A major contract for the construction of Italy’s Ravenna Port Hub has been awarded to a consortium including DEME’s subsidiary Dredging International and Italian construction company Consorzio Stabile Grandi Lavori.

The contract award follows a tender procedure for the Ravenna Port Hub. The tender was announced a year ago.

With a total value of EUR 197,8 million ($235 million), the project is financed by the Italian Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union and the Port System Authority. 

Specifically, this project aims to develop the necessary port infrastructure to handle larger vessels of 75,000 dwt and containerships of up to 8,000 TEU, as well as higher traffic volumes. This in turn is expected to have significant socioeconomic effects in the region.

Dredging works are due to get underway in the first quarter of 2021, according to DEME.

As informed, the first phase of the project includes the excavation of 5 million cubic metres of sediments in the outer and inner channels, deepening the port up to -12.5 metres, reconstruction of the existing docks over a length of 6.5 kilometres to adapt them to the new depths and the construction of a 1,000-metre quay for the Peninsula Trattaroli, which serves a new port area.

The Port of Ravenna represents the only port in the Emilia-Romagna Region and comprises shipyards, multipurpose terminals, bulk cargo terminals and a containerized cargo terminal. It also includes a passenger terminal and the biggest marinas of the Adriatic Sea.