50% funded by the European Union, it will serve to improve nautical accessibility and maximize the sustainability of navigation in the ports of Venice and Chioggia

Venice, November 18, 2021 – Study launched to address the issue of nautical accessibility in the ports of Venice and Chioggia in full respect of the lagoon environment. On the table is the analysis for the implementation of highly innovative solutions in compliance with the physical constraints and hydrodynamic equilibrium of the Venetian lagoon – also in consideration of the local water traffic and the MoSE mobile dam system – as well as the broader objective of transport decarbonisation.

The initiative, promoted by the Port System Authority is part of the “CHANNELING: the Green deal for Venice” project and involves an analysis based on a highly innovative scientific approach, through which hydrodynamic simulation models will be integrated for the first time and navigation with data collected in the field in real time, which will make it possible to evaluate, in relation to maritime traffic, the hydrodynamic impact on the Malamocco-Marghera canal and on the neighbouring strips. Through the monitoring activity, operational and design solutions will then be identified that can be applied both along the canal and in the surrounding areas, in order to safeguard the lagoon environment and ensure the balance between maritime traffic and environmental sustainability. The Channeling project is worth a total of 1.7 million euros, 50% non-repayable co-financed by the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.

The study, entrusted through an international call for tenders, now sees a pool of Italian and foreign companies at work led by the Danish Hydraulic Institute, in line with the very high quality standards required by the tender (and composed of DHI Srl (Italy) and A / S (Denmark), an international organization that has been operating for more than 50 years exclusively in the specific water sector, with particular expertise in hydraulic modelling and in hydrodynamic and solid transport processes, FORCE Technology, based in Denmark, international leader in the field of studies of navigation and manoeuvering, which has the most advanced simulators in the world; HS Marine, an Italian engineering company with specific experience in structural interventions and redevelopment and morphological recomposition of the coastline; Cetena, research and simulation centre of the Fincantieri Group, specialist in manoeuvering simulations, in CFD calculation and in fluid dynamics interactions between ships and water matrix e Around Water, a single-member company of Geol. Andrea Zamariolo, expert in sedimentology and morpho-dynamics of wetlands and lagoons).

“The action we are taking – said the President of the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea and Special Commissioner for cruises, Fulvio Lino Di Blasio – goes in the direction we have announced and which will be developed in POT 2022/2024 in phase of completion: putting environmental sustainability at the centre of port development policies, in which the task of ensuring accessibility to the ports of Venice and Chioggia is carried out in full respect of the lagoon environment and hydrodynamic balance. This is a study with which the System Authority had in fact already anticipated issues that later converged on the agenda of the Special Commissioner for cruises whose mission also consists of activities related to the issue of accessibility to the infrastructures of the port system. and the practicability of the canals that guarantee access”.

So, the study on the Malamocco Marghera – which will be ready within 12 months – not only lends itself to becoming a good practice at a European or international level – one of the reasons why the European Commission intended to co-finance the project – but also allows us to relaunch Venice and the entire port system as a privileged hub for the challenge that the Green Deal has posed in terms of sustainability and attractiveness of the European economic system, as underlined by Julian Espina, Project Manager – of the European Climate Agency, the Environment and Infrastructures (CINEA) in connection from Brussels: “The project reflects the essence of the Green Deal, in terms of environmental protection and the guarantee of safe and environmentally sustainable modes of transport. Furthermore, it will have a significant impact on two of the main TEN-T Corridors – the Mediterranean and the Baltic Adriatic. The study can be used as a key tool for public decision makers and stakeholders, and will propose an innovative long-term solution on the issue of the delicate lagoon environment ”.

Andrea Crosta – Business Unit Leader of DHI Italy and Antonio Revedin – Director of Strategic Planning and Development of the Port System Authority took part in the opening event of the study.

The next operational step will be the establishment of the Advisory Board, which will consist of five experts with recognized expertise in the hydrodynamic, morphological and safety of navigation fields who will perform consultative and control tasks on the activity and results of the work.