• 2 min de lectura
• 2 min de lectura
Cruise Terminals International plans to appeal a court decision that annulled the environmental approval for the €600m Rome Fiumicino Waterfront project which includes a mega-ship berth.
"The company is aware of the decision by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court regarding the Isola Sacra Cruise Port project. While we respect the ruling, we plan to lodge an appeal in accordance with the legal timeframes and procedures," CTI said in a statement provided to Seatrade Cruise News on Thursday.
Last week the Lazio court threw out November's decree by Italy's Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security incorporating an opinion by the Ministry of Culture that had confirmed the environmental, landscape and cultural compatibility of the project.
Located a few kilometers from Rome and near the international airport, Fiumicino Waterfront is an ambitious project that would expand the town's marina capacity to serve megayachts and add a single cruise berth able to handle the largest ships, along with a terminal.
According to news reports from Italy, the court focused on the project's classification as a tourist port for the environmental assessment, instead of as a cruise port. Since it has a dedicated cruise ship pier and the potential for throughput of more than a million passengers a year, the court said the assessment should have been conducted under Italy's ports sector framework.
A cruise berth in Fiumicino has been desired by Royal Caribbean Group going back many years. The project was taken on by CTI, formed as a new infrastructure investment/operations entity when Royal teamed with iCON Infrastructure Partners in 2022. CTI is 90% owned by ICON VI and 10% by Royal, and managed by an independent team with strategic support from Royal.
Fiumicino Waterfront has faced pushback from environmentalists and some locals concerned about the impact on their small community. Proponents argue it will bring jobs and economic opportunities to an area which has been "underinvested for the past decades," in the words of CTI CEO Greg Lanter.
