Tag: Italy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a €195 million (USD224.7 million) financing to the Centre-North Tyrrhenian Sea Port Authority for the expansion of the port of Civitavecchia, in the Italian capital, and the building of a ferry terminal in the port of Fiumicino.

Six Tunisian fishers have been put on trial in Italy after their trawler helped 14 migrants, by towing their small vessel into Italian waters. All the crew were arrested on people smuggling charges, even though they claimed to have alerted the Italian coastguard that there was a boat in distress.

Italian giant shipbuilder Fincantieri and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) have signed a MoU extending their already existing cooperation to all segments of merchant shipbuilding. Their current collaboration counts a joint venture dedicated to the first cruise ships ever built in China and others.

Italy's minister of the interior, Matteo Salvini, has allowed migrants of the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Ubaldo Diciotti' to disembark, after he was placed under formal investigation regarding their detention. Mr. Salvini has been formally placed under investigation for potential illegal detention and kidnapping.

Italy will allow its coast guard ship 'Ubaldo Diciotti,' carrying 177 rescued migrants to dock in Catania, Sicily. This comes after a standoff with Malta over where the ship should disembark. However, there are reports that the interior minister Matteo Salvini will not allow the migrants to disembark until he is assured that they will go elsewhere.

Italian authorities have seized 20 tonnes of hash worth as much as 200 million euros ($232 million) in the fuel tanks of a Panama-flagged ship that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily. The entire 11-person crew, all from Montenegro, was arrested for international drugs trafficking.

Italy has approved 10 new patrol boats and two larger ships for the Libyan coast guard, under the attempt of the Government to control migration. The new vessels will be deployed by the end of August. The ships were approved by the Italian Senate on Monday, August 6.

The Institute for Political, Social and Economic Studies in Italy presented a project to build a container hub in the Port of Palermo, which will be able to handle 16 million containers annually. The construction of the Hub port aims to make Palermo into the most important port in southern Europe.

The port city of Algeciras is warning that help is needed to cope with the increasing numbers of migrants crossing in southern Spain. Namely, Algeciras's mayor José Ignacio Landaluce called for help as illegal migration to Spain has been increasing for more than a year and arrivals by sea have risen dramatically in recent weeks.

In late May, the European Commission put forward a proposal to ban 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe's beaches and seas. However, a number of European countries have already gone ahead with their own laws to combat plastic pollution.