By
Michele Witthaus |
Costa Cruises is to double the capacity of the Palacrociere terminal at the Italian port of Savona this year in an investment worth around €9 million.
The announcement of plans for a second passenger terminal at the port was made on 3 April at the Palazzo Lamba Doria in Savona during a meeting between Costa Crociere president Gianni Onorato, the mayor of Savona, Federico Berruti, Savona Chamber of Commerce president Luciano Pasquale, and Savona-Vado Ligure Port Authority chairman Rino Canavese.
The tender process for the new terminal, which will cover a total area of 3,500 square metres was completed in February this year and the contractor will be formally appointed at the end of April, with construction set to commence by late May. The new satellite terminal, which will use the services of the existing Palacrociere but will also be able to operate as a free-standing facility, is expected to open its doors for business at the end of August 2013, in time for next year’s peak cruise season.
Costa Cruises, which has been running the Palacrociere terminal directly since 2003, predicted that the terminal would see approximately 900,000 cruisers and 220 calls in 2012, figures which it said were “in line with the record numbers clocked up in 2011”. The line said that in the preceding two weeks, it had recorded booking volumes for its 2012 Easter cruises exceeding the corresponding figures for its Easter cruises in 2011. The company has five ships operating in the Mediterranean for this Easter, all departing from Savona.