The Marina di Gela Consortium has filed an application for a 50-year maritime concession for an area of 137,000 square metres to construct a 490-berth marina. Eighty thousand square metres of this area are water.
The application has been filed with the Western Sicilian Sea Port Authority. The consortium, which is led by the engineer Maurizio Damante, specifically envisions the construction of “a maritime infrastructure dedicated to recreational boating” at the port, consisting of “facilities for mooring vessels, commercial buildings, a clubhouse, a control tower, marina offices and an area for a shipyard”.
The project envisions the creation of 490 berths, with stalls ranging from category zero to six. Specifically, 72 berths are currently planned for 8-metre berths, 110 for 10-metre berths, 132 for 12-metre berths, 104 for 15-metre berths, 24 for 18-metre berths, 25 for 22-metre berths and 23 for 30-metre berths.
The consortium consists of nine companies. These include Lorefice & Ponzio Srl, Di Marca Service Srl, Icaro Ecology Spa, Cm Impianti Srl, CoVeca Srl, Gradito Oleodinamica Srl, Ergo Meccanica Srl, Courier Pack Srl and Dam Srl. Any competing applications to the one submitted by the Marina di Gela Consortium, as well as observations or objections, may be submitted by the beginning of July.
There have been discussions around building a marina in the port of Gela since 2021, when an agreement was signed between the municipal administration and Sicindustria, a local association of the Sicilian Confindustria system.
The current port has long suffered from silting up of the seabed, making access impossible for vessels and progressively limiting commercial activity. Annalisa Tardino, president of the Port Authority for the Western Sicilian Sea, has reassured that the authority has begun planning the necessary work to restore the port to operational conditions. These include signing a new implementing agreement with the municipality for the restoration and expansion of the port.
