Augusta port
| Augusta port | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Data | |||
| UN / LOCODE | IT AUG | ||
| operator | Port Authority Augusta-Catania ( ADSP del Mare di Sicilia orientale ) |
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| opening | 1235 | ||
| Port type | Sea port , naval base | ||
| Throughput | 26,342,608 t (2015) | ||
| website | www.adspmaresiciliaorientale.it | ||
| Geographic information | |||
| place | Augusta (Sicily) | ||
| Free community consortium | Syracuse Free Community Consortium | ||
| Country | Italy | ||
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| Coordinates | 37 ° 13 '12 " N , 15 ° 12' 26" E | ||
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The port of Augusta ( Italian Porto d'Augusta ) is located on the east coast of Sicily on the Ionian Sea . In terms of area, it is the largest liquid cargo port in Italy and, after Taranto and La Spezia, the third largest base of the Italian Navy .
Location and infrastructure
The port is located between Catania in the north and Syracuse in the south on the Bay of Augusta in the area of the municipalities of Augusta , Melilli and Priolo Gargallo , in the broader sense it extends to Cape Santa Panagia near Syracuse. The Catania-Syracuse motorway , the state road 114 and the Messina-Syracuse railway line run along the bay , via which the port is very well connected. The airports of Catania-Fontanarossa and Sigonella are around 30 kilometers to the north-west .
The old town of Augusta is located in the north of the bay on a (half) island, from the southern tip of which a three-part, 6.5 km long pier extends to the south and then to the west. As a breakwater, it protects most of the bay and the inner harbor in the north. The main entrance to the protected bay is the Imboccatura di Levante in the east, while the smaller entrance, Imboccatura di Scirocco , is in the south . In the southernmost section, beyond the breakwater, from Priolo Gargallo to the Magnisi peninsula, there are further systems that stretch further south to Marina di Melilli and Santa Panagia. The water area in the bay that can be used by shipping amounts to around 2,300 hectares, the water depth is between 14 and 18 meters. The numerous extinguishing bridges in front of the Augusta-Priolo industrial complex and its oil refineries are characteristic of the port .
It is not possible to clearly divide the port into functional areas, mainly because civil and military facilities alternate along the bay. The small trading port in the northwest is more of a multi-purpose port and in the middle section of the bay not all port facilities are intended exclusively for liquid cargo handling. A closer look can start counterclockwise in the north at the old town of Augusta and end in the south of the bay:
On the eastern shore of the Augusta peninsula, right on the Ionian Sea, construction began on the small marina Porto Xifonio , the name of which refers to an ancient Greek settlement. The construction of this facility was interrupted several times due to various grievances. The area of Terravecchia on the southern tip of the peninsula belongs to the Italian Navy, which has barracks , a helipad and small port facilities there. The regional naval command for Sicily and the naval base command Augusta are located there. On the west side of the peninsula, along the Via Marina Ponente, follows the so-called new harbor basin (Darsena nuova) with the port captain's office and a base for the coast guard . There are also berths for tugs and other sea vessels necessary for port operations. Smaller boat repair and craft businesses follow to the north. On this old shipyard site , the Noé shipyard was founded in 1890 and the Tringali shipyard in 1942, which are now active in other areas of the bay. It connects to the so-called torpedo boat harbor of the Navy, which was named after the military historian and (naval) engineer Tullio Marcon, who died in Augusta in 2006 . Today this section of the port is mainly used by patrol ships and also serves as a forward base for other naval units. The military area is interrupted by the small fishing port of Sant'Andrea . In the very north-west of the (half) island, near the old harbor basin (Darsena vecchia) is the Augusta naval arsenal . It is a relatively small facility (without dry docks ) for ship repairs and additional small berths, also for submarines . On the mainland follows the small oil port of the Maxcom company with a discharge bridge and a tank farm and immediately afterwards the Pantano Daniele branch of the aforementioned naval arsenal with landing stages for floating docks . Major ship repairs are carried out in these docks, for reasons of profitability also for civilian clients.
In the far north of the Bay of Augusta there are facilities of the Cantiere Golden Bay shipyard , which also serve as boat moorings. Located in the northwest of Bay Water Aerodrome Idroscalo Luigi Spagnolo was up to the Second World War, used by the military, the neighboring large airship hangar is now a tourist attraction. The small commercial port of Porto commerciale d'Augusta at the mouth of the Mulinello also belongs to the northwestern section . General and solid bulk goods as well as containers are handled on this concrete platform . The facility also serves as a ferry port for connections with mainland Italy and Malta .
At Punta Cugno , exactly opposite the Augusta peninsula, the fire fighting bridges and the refineries and other industrial facilities behind them begin. Some of the facilities at Punta Cugno are owned by the Italian Navy, which maintains an underground tank farm there, while the rest is owned by Esso Italiana and Sasoil and the Tringali shipyard. The ruins of the ancient Greek colony Megara Hyblaea , after which the port of Augusta is also known as Porto megarese , are located in the middle of the industrial facilities in the heart of the coastal section by the bay . South of Megara Hyblaea follows a cement plant from Buzzi Unicem and then the so-called NATO Pier Augusta. This military facility serves to supply warships of the NATO navies, in particular with fuel and ammunition. The NATO pier is connected by a pipeline to the underground tank farm of San Cusumano a few hundred meters away, from which another pipeline leads to the Sigonella military airfield. A little south of San Cusumanu, in the karst cave system of Sorciaro, there is a large ammunition depot that was also used as a special ammunition depot for nuclear weapons during the Cold War . The Palombara and Santa Panagia naval telecommunications facilities are also nearby. To the south of the NATO pier, on the Priolo Bay on both sides of the pier, there are other petrochemical plants with associated fire extinguishing bridges, especially those of the companies ERG-ISAB and Syndial .
In 2005, goods handled in Augusta totaled 32.6 million tons, ten years later it was 26.3 million tons. The proportion of liquid goods is regularly over 95 percent.
Augusta Bay
Augusta with torpedo boat harbor and arsenal in the northern bay
Northwestern section with airship hangar, Etna behind
Augusta-Priolo industrial complex
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history
Until the 19th century
The ancient history of the port can be traced back to the Greek colonization of Sicily, in particular to the founding of Megara Hyblaea in 729 BC. The city became a center of maritime trade and therefore came into competition with neighboring Syracuse, which began in 483 BC. Led to the first destruction of Megara Hyblaea. Rebuilt almost 150 years later, it was destroyed again by the Romans in the Second Punic War . At the ruins of Xiphonia, a former outpost of Megara Hyblaea near today's old town of Augusta, the Romans under Emperor Augustus built a new settlement that remained insignificant and was later destroyed by barbarians and Saracens .
After attempts to revive the Normans , Emperor Frederick II had a new city built on site between 1234 and 1236 because of its strategic importance, which he gave the imperial honorary name Augusta Veneranda (later corrupted to Agosta ). After the Hohenstaufen rule , the Kingdom of Sicily first fell to the House of Anjou , then to the Crown of Aragon and finally to Spain . Because of the ongoing raids by Saracens, Turks and Barbaresque corsairs , Augusta was fortified and the port expanded. To ward off attacks from the sea, three fortresses were built on small rock islands : About 500 meters south of the southern tip of the Augusta peninsula, the Torre Avalos to protect the port entrance, and in the middle of the northern bay the two fortresses Garcia and Vittoria to defend the (old) port, today's Darsena vecchia in the area of the naval arsenal, which the Staufer had created. There the Augusta peninsula was separated from the mainland by a ditch. The old isthmus was replaced by a drawbridge , which was later replaced by a stone bridge. The moat and the fortress built next to it protected Augusta from attacks on the land. From 1649, the Order of Malta in Augusta maintained larger supply facilities for around 150 years, which made a significant contribution to the economic and demographic development of the city. During the Dutch War Augusta was occupied by the French in 1675; the following year there was a naval battle near Augusta between the Dutch and the Spanish on the one hand and the French on the other. The latter withdrew again in 1678. On January 11, 1693, Augusta was devastated by an earthquake . Despite the vigorous reconstruction, the city, which was hit by another earthquake in early 1848, did not recover until the unification of Italy . In the 18th and 19th centuries the port was mainly used for fishing. During the Napoleonic occupation of mainland Italy, the Neapolitan Bourbons , who had withdrawn to Sicily, left the Bay of Augusta to the British Mediterranean Fleet .
Naval base
In 1860, during the process of Italian unification, Prime Minister and Minister of the Navy Cavour advocated the establishment of a naval base and arsenal in Augusta. The construction of these facilities was not carried out there for various reasons: Because the control of the Adriatic accesses and the western Mediterranean were considered more important, preference was given to building the naval bases in Taranto , La Spezia and La Maddalena . In addition, Augusta was thought to be too exposed due to its location and, due to a lack of infrastructure, too isolated, which is why Augusta repeatedly came into a kind of military competition with Messina a little further north . From 1896 the Italian Navy used Augusta mainly as a forward logistics base, especially to supply warships with coal.
During the First World War , in November 1917, the construction of a large airship hangar began in the northwestern part of the bay. The airships operating from there had the task of sighting submarines approaching Augusta and the Strait of Messina . The construction of the hall was not completed until 1920, after which a sea airfield was built there by 1926, which was used for military purposes until the Second World War and for a few years afterwards for civilian use. At that time there was another important seaplane base in neighboring Syracuse.
Construction of the naval base and arsenal began in 1934 after the pier had been completed. Because of the reasons mentioned, the base was primarily intended for lighter units such as torpedo boats , submarines and small ordnance, while Messina was preferred for larger ships. During World War II the ports of Augusta and Syracuse in 1941 became a permanent place (Piazza Forte) explained and to prevent attacks from the sea and from the air with a number of coastal artillery - (to 381 mm) and air defense - batteries fitted. The bases were less secure against attacks by land forces from the hinterland. After the city of Augusta was reduced to rubble by Allied bombers on May 13, 1943, the port and its defenses were removed from the British bridgehead between Pachino and Avola a few days after the Allies landed in Sicily ( Operation Husky ) on May 13 Captured July 1943.
A few months after the Cassibile armistice , the Italian Navy re-established offices in Augusta, which, like the rest of the country, remained occupied by the Allies until 1947. Until 2002, the Augusta naval base remained subordinate to the regional naval command for Sicily in Messina, which then moved to Augusta. In 1951 Augusta became the seat of the Scuola di comando navale , which trains prospective ship commanders, and in 1954 a submarine hunting school followed. On August 1, 1956, the first helicopter unit ( AB 47J ) of the new Italian naval aviators was set up in Augusta-Terravecchia ; a few years later she moved to Catania-Fontanarossa Airport. The reactivated Augusta's Naval Arsenal was demoted to a branch of the Messina Arsenal in 1963. After Augusta had become the headquarters of the 4th Fleet Division in 1967 , she had to hand it over to Taranto in 1970, together with the Scuola comando and the U-Hunting School. In return, Augusta received from La Spezia the 2nd submarine squadron with four small boats of the Toti class , which together with the corvettes and light frigates of the 4th Division shaped the naval base for a long time. In 1983 the Scuola comando definitely returned to Augusta and in 1987 the naval arsenal there became autonomous again. In the 1990s, the 2nd submarine squadron was disbanded and the Comforpat patrol command was formed with the corvettes and patrol ships stationed in Augusta . To this day, Augusta has mainly served as the base for Comforpat's smaller ships and as a logistical base for other units.
Industrial complex
The Second World War and the Allied invasion of Sicily worsened the economic and social situation in Sicily. At the end of 1944, the Italian government took the first steps to industrialize Sicily, including some financial measures for the construction of refineries near Augusta. Even before the war, the oil company Agip had been drilling for oil in the Ragusa area , which was continued in 1946 by the American company Gulf Oil . Because oil was actually found there and Sicily was also on the shipping route to the oil-rich Arab region, the Rasiom refinery was built near Augusta by the entrepreneur Angelo Moratti in 1949 . Other petrochemical companies and other companies followed, some of which built their fire extinguishing bridges into the bay. The general development of the port benefited not only in terms of cargo handling, but also in terms of the shipyards that built drilling platforms , including Vega , the largest facility of its kind ever built in Italy. Industrialization took place in a previously agricultural area, owned by it gladly gave up their reason for reasonable prices and employment commitments in industry. No consideration was given to the environment, for whose need for protection there was no awareness at the time, with sometimes catastrophic consequences for the health of the residents. Around 20,000 jobs were created in this way between 1950 and 1970. In the late 1970s, local employment opportunities decreased due to the partial relocation of production processes and increasing automation ; diversification brought limited relief. Especially in the north of the bay, a ship cemetery has developed due to economic crises and changed economic structures, to which the Italian Navy has also contributed with decommissioned warships. While the latter began to gradually remove their wrecks in 2014, it still seems very difficult to dispose of abandoned merchant ships and their contaminated sites because their owners can no longer be traced. It remains to be seen whether and how the redevelopment plans for the bay will be implemented.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ assoporti.it Augusta 2015 (ital.). Accessed February 10, 2018.
- ^ In ricordo di Tullio Marcon. Francesco Carriglio in augusta-framacamo.net, May 9, 2009
- ↑ Cover overview 2005 on assoporti.it
- ↑ Port Authority Augusta Statistics 2015
- ↑ Tullio Marcon: Augusta 1940–1943. Ermanno Albertelli Editore, Parma 2006.
- ↑ Brief description of the platform on edison.it