The Offshore Terminal
The offshore terminal off the Port of Venice will berth larger ships and will bring both economic and environmental benefits.
20 metres natural draught
To boost competitiveness in Europe, the Port of Venice is planning an offshore platform at some 8 miles off the Malamocco port mouth where the seabed has a natural depth of 20 m.
The offshore terminal will allow today's and tomorrow's ultra-large ships to call at the Port of Venice without having to further dredge the existing lagoon channels.
It will also be possible to distribute goods to the European and Italian markets exploiting the most convenient land port. The terminal is expected to become the central link between the existing logistics centres and the maritime traffic generated by global trade.
Offshore terminal's position
Types of traffic managed by the offshore platform
The off-shore platform will mainly handle oil, bulk, and container traffic.
The transport of oil will be managed through pipelines that will link the terminal to the coast. As a result oil-tankers will be kept out of the lagoon, as specified in the special law for Venice.
The new terminal will be able to berth ships with deeper draughts and it will also help the logistics platform and terminals in Marghera to handle containers.
Benefits of the offshore terminal
The off-shore terminal will create new jobs and benefit the economy, and will also help the environment. It has been estimated that choosing the Port of Venice means to:
- spend 5 less days at sea, and to cut greenhouse emissions (97 CO2 kg less for each container transported to Munich via Venice instead of via a Northern Europe port);
- reduce the need to dredge the port channels (saving money and helping the environment);
- increase the safety of navigation in the lagoon.
