June 5 marks the official commencement of the work to double the capacity of the Savona Palacrociere thanks to the building of a second passenger terminal.
The finishing touches have been made to the detailed design, and on June 1 the Savona Port Authority gave Costa Cruises a concession on the site where it will build the new facility with an investment worth around 9 million euros.
The tender process for the project was completed on May 24, 2012 and the outcome was subsequently announced: the contractor is a consortium led by Project Managers PDR Bianchi –De Rege S.p.A. of Genoa and Aza-Aghito- Zambonini S.p.A. of Fiorenzuola.
The building site will operate for about 15 months and the new satellite terminal is expected to open its doors for business at the beginning of September 2013, in time for next year’s peak cruise season in Savona. For safety reasons the worksite will be fenced off from the existing cruise terminal, while the tensile structure currently used whenever three cruise ships are in port at the same time will be moved to a location opposite the third quay. This happens on a regular basis: three Costa Cruises ships will be docking on the one day forty times in the next few months.
The second terminal will cover a total area of 3500 m2. It will be a satellite terminal, functionally connected to the existing Palacrociere, so that it can use its services, but also able to operate as a free-standing facility with its own waiting, transit and baggage handling areas. There will also be separate policing by the various authorities (police, Guardia di Finanza and customs).
The professional firms behind the design of the new facility are all Ligurian: Studio Vicini Architetti (architects Luigi Vicini and Andrea Piazza), who also contributed to the designs of the original Palacrociere and the Barcelona “Palacruceros”; Studio Tecnico Ingg. Montaldo e Canale; and C.V.D. Progetti Srl.
The presence of Costa’s ships generates an important economic impact for the region. According to a study conducted by MIP, the Milan Polytechnic Business School, Costa Cruises generated more than 5.5 million euros of direct economic impact in the Port of Savona in 2010 and almost 230 million euros in Liguria as a whole, the latter figure largely accounted for by work carried out on the ships in the fleet.
The purpose-built Palacrociere opened at the end of 2003 and is run directly by Costa Cruises. Conceived by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, it was specially designed to provide hospitality for cruise Guests, guaranteeing them high quality services. Thanks to its innovative architecture the terminal is able to reduce waiting time to a minimum, while combining the utmost comfort with maximum security. The Savona Palacrociere received from RINA (Italian Shipping Register) the B.E.S.T. 4 (Business Excellence Sustainable Task), which is an integrated voluntary scheme certifying corporate compliance with the highest international standards in the areas of Social Accountability, Environment, Safety and Quality
