The Port of Cagliari is one of the largest

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s and one of the largest

s in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

basin, with an annual traffic capacity of around 50 million tonnes of

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

and 1,000,000 TEU's. The port is also an important employer in the area, with more than 3,000 employees who provide services to more than 5,500 ships every year.

History

The Port of Cagliari is in the west of the

, a position which has made it a commercial and strategic junction for over 2,500 years. Founded by the

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...

, launched by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

and flourished under the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, for centuries the port in

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

has been in a continuous expansion program. Thanks to the large spaces available and its enormous operating potential, the Port of Cagliari can accommodate heavy commercial traffic by moving conventional goods,

bulk goods Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/crude oil, ...

, Ro-Ro traffic and transshipping containerized goods, all which are flanked by passenger services,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, t ...

and cruise activities. On 20 June, 2019, the Cict, a subsidiary of the Contship Italia Group, announced the full dismission of its activities in the Porto Canale after 23 years of operations and the start of a collective firing procedure for the around 200-300 workers of the company.

Description

The Port of Cagliari is situated 18 km from the

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

ideal line and represents one of the poles for transshipping activities in the Western Mediterranean sea. The territorial district managed by the Cagliari Port Authority extends for approximately 30 km of

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

; its structure is divided into two areas: the historic port and the canal port. The historic port has 5,800 meters of

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locatio ...

, which serves

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

and Ro-Ro traffic as well as

passenger ships A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

. The canal port has 1,600 meters of

and has five berths for

transshipping Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

and Ro-Ro traffic. These two ports are flanked by berths for the petrochemical and oil industry, which accommodate mooring for 17 ships at a time.

Statistics

In 2007 the Port of Cagliari handled 35,261,756 tonnes of

and 547,336 TEU's making it one of the busiest cargo ports in Italy and one of the largest

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

ports in the country. :''* figures in tonnes''

Terminals

Container

The Cagliari International Container Terminal or (CICT) is the largest container terminal in the port with an annual traffic capacity of 1,000,000 TEU's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cagliari Ports and harbours of Italy Cagliari Transport in Sardinia Buildings and structures in Sardinia