Page 60: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1988)

Port of Genoa Attracts

New Container Business

Under Innovative Leadership —Free Brochures Offered—

In 1984, the Port of Genoa was in need of a major restructuring. Un- der the burden of labor problems and obsolete systems, procedures and equipment, the port suffered critical financial losses.

Today, under the adept and in- novative guidance of Roberto

D'Alessandro, the president of the Port of Genoa, the port is a thriving European center for con- tainer and RO/RO traffic, ship re- pair, passenger travel and crude oil product handling. "The situation I was confronted with on that first day could briefly be summarized as a continuous de- crease of traffic plagued by outra- geous costs, exorbitant tariffs, chronic inefficiency and nonexistent competitiveness," said Mr. D'Ales- sandro. "In bare figures, the port had accrued losses for $420 mil- lion."

Faced with the issues of lack of employee motivation, bureaucracy, high labor costs, inefficiency, finan- cial losses, lack of funding and in- vestment, obsolete equipment and facilities and customer dissatisfac- tion, Mr. D'Alessandro enacted a number of structural and organiza- tional solutions.

Labor costs, for example, which once had exceeded revenues by more than 15 percent, declined to 50 percent of total sales through labor agreements.

Through changes in the organiza- tional structure of the port, a new, more effective decision-making mechanism was created.

In addition, capital investment was obtained from domestic banks as well as international financial in- stitutions such as Citibank, Irving

Trust Co., Manufacturers Hanover

Trust and the Bank of Boston.

According to Mr. D'Alessandro, the port's "winning formula" for raising its productivity was the com- bination of the new decision-making process, a series of capital invest- ments and a significant reduction in labor costs.

Results of the "winning formula" show that port traffic has grown 35 percent since 1985.

Some of the plans under way at the port include: • The realization of a system of terminals dedicated to container and RO/RO traffic that will enable

Genoa to handle a total capacity of 1 million TEUs annually by the 1990s (up from only 200,000 TEUs

Im.'' *

Left: Artist's conception of the container-handling facilities located at the Port of Genoa: Right: Container-handling cranes at the Port of

Genoa.

Roberto D'Alessandro in 1983). The plan calls for $50 mil- lion improvements to the present terminal (upgraded to handle 400,000 TEUs per year); the con- struction of a new terminal for Cala- ta Sanita, which will handle 200,000

TEUs per year; the new Voltri port, which will also handle 400,000

TEUs; and an increase in the por- tainer number from four to 14; • The $100-million improvement of non-containerized traffic areas; • The construction of a large pas- senger terminal; • The building of an international airport surrounded by hotel com- plexes and commercial outlets; • The restructuring of the old port, with the construction of a ma- rina and the rehabilitation, within the port area, of historic city cen- ters, following the example of the large revitalization in American ports such as Baltimore, New York and San Francisco; • And the creation of a technolog- ically advanced telecommunications network for service to the port and the commercial city. This is said to •dudorS

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