Darsena Europa is not the only infrastructure that is set to transform the port of Livorno. Among the most eagerly awaited projects is the widening of its harbour access channel. This is considered strategic for a port that intends to remain competitive in the years leading up to the inauguration of the new container terminal that will be built on the two reclamation containment basins.
The widening of the harbour access channel is directly linked to the need to improve accessibility safety standards for ships heading to Livorno’s industrial port. This is no trivial matter for a port of call that is currently only accessible via a sort of narrow passageway which is only 70 metres wide. That’s nothing if consider the new generation of containerships are over 50 metres wide.
Yesterday the Port Network Authority (PNA) announcement that work is to begin on the construction of a quay on one of the channel’s banks, near the Marzocco tower, is a strategic turning point.
Once the quay has been moved back (work on the Marzocco-side bank will take 475 days, while a further 180 days are planned for the bank on the Magnale-side), the channel’s width will almost double from 70 to 120m. The new quay will also allow subsequent dredging work to be carried out, which will ensure a depth of 13 metres below the banks and 16 metres at the centre of the waterway.
The mega contract, worth around €16 million, also includes returning the Marzocco tower to its former aquatic glory. 54 metres high and built five centuries ago in the middle of the sea, the Tower is currently located on dry land inside the industrial port, surrounded by cranes and containers. The project also includes the construction of a small moat filled with seawater around the historic building. Before proceeding, the competent authorities may carry out restoration work on both the monument and its fortifications. The goal is to make this historic landmark accessible and open to the public, including by sea.
Davide Gariglio, president of the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority, described it as a remarkable achievement. He thanked everybody who, over the years, had been working to complete an extremely long and complex procedural process. PNA technicians devised both the final project and took care of all the necessary environmental aspects to pass the scrutiny of the Ministry of the Environment and all other inspection bodies.
It was a complex process from an engineering point of view, It depended on completing the removal and decommissioning of ENI’s underwater pipeline, which crossed the harbour access channel to Livorno port, restricting its draught and navigable section. As is well known, work on cutting the oil pipelines began in February 2024 and was completed in June 2025. With the removal of the old pipes and the laying of the new ones in the micro-tunnel built by the PNA in 2023, it was then possible to proceed with opening the construction site and awarding of the mega contract.
“It is only thanks to everyone’s commitment and the synergy developed over the years by ENI and the Port Authority that we can now achieve an extremely ambitious goal,” Mr. Gariglio stressed. “In just under two years, we will have a more competitive port that is certainly more attractive to shipping companies. This is a promising start to the year for the future of our port, which has significant development potential even without Darsena Europa.”
Translation by Giles Foster
