Port life in Italy during the coronavirus emergency: stepping up to the challenge

Italy was the first European country to suffer the full consequences of the COVID-19. In this article, Tiziana Murgia from Assoporti, Francesca Morucci and Massimiliano Barbera from the North Tyrrhenian Port Authority Network explain the main measures taken in the maritime sector to face this crisis. The authors also reflect on the serious consequences for passenger activities and the role of international organizations in the global response to the corona virus challenge. This English article summarizes the key ideas of a previous Italian one. AIVP key mission is to share relevant knowledge and good practices for Port Cities, with the support of its members and partners, who are of course invited to share their ideas and news. For the first time in history, cruise ships are not travelling around the world due to the COVID-19 global emergency. However, this is not only thing that has ceased to be as it was. Cities, ports and port life has changed. Logistics is now subject to new and updated safety and health measures which seem at first to have complicated the flow of cargo but are necessary to maintain a safe and secure supply to hospitals, supermarkets and the industries that continue to work for each country. In the past, the Cruise Industry had had difficult moments, after terrorist attacks and certainly after some serious accidents like the Costa Concordia one. Now the whole system has been affected – shipyards, terminal operators, travel agencies, tourist guides, drivers, suppliers and so on. Today, the crisis has a global reach for this industry as it has been entirely stopped and cannot be considered essential for the country in a pandemic crisis. According to UNCTAD, 80% of cargo travels via sea and it is therefore essential that National Governments try to facilitate as much as possible the flow of traffic and keep ports fully operational, as these provide goods that are essential for the population and for the health system. Ports and maritime traffic are a substantial part of global economy a connection that ensures stable economies, markets, industries and a large part of the transport of people. At present, the epidemic state of countries is an uncontrollable variable as has been declared by health authorities and high-level scientific panels. It is therefore possible that the request of essential goods may increase, as well as food and medical needs, and this makes those countries without sea, dependent on the nearby ports to have access to goods. Restrictions on cargo handling and the blocks on borders could have a negative impact on the novel Coronavirus itself, interrupting the supply of essential goods for hospitals, companies, for citizens themselves. The continuity of international trade is a priority that has been requested by the maritime industry on the whole. It is necessary to safeguard the conditions of health and safety of maritime workers. The restrictions on access to ports and the quarantine measures have had a serious effect of crew members, with an effect on shifts. A priority is also that of containing the risk of the spread of the disease among port workers, that could damage cargo flow especially due to the media communication that would result. To face this pandemic period, institutions in Italy are moving in an already difficult situation where an emergency can really be devastating. It is important to underline that generally the operational employees are those who pay the highest price of the lack of organization. Regarding port workers, it is now almost a month in which they are having to adapt to a continuously difficult situation that is changing on a daily basis due to the variable aspects of the virus that remain still unknown even to the high-level scientists. Ports are usually always on the front lines because they have this vital role of shipping and handling goods and people. This new situation in which people have been asked to stay home, changing habits and not having access to many goods directly in shops that are also temporarily closed and/or are not accessible as before due to physical distancing to avoid further spreading of the disease. Due to this new scenario, the Italian Port Network authorities together have asked the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to launch a coordinated task force so that all ports and connected logistic chains function in the same manner and follow the same type of procedures. This emergency has brought together all the presidents of the Port Authorities in the need and prospect of finding the right solutions to all the connected difficulties that ports are facing due to the COVID-19 emergency. Starting from a list of simple measures enforced both in maritime and port fields in Italy, the article tries to…