The government approved a decision at yesterday’s meeting that paves the way for the implementation of Emaar’s project by the United Arab Emirates to build a yacht port and luxury buildings in the port of Durres, giving new territories to the Port of Porto-Romano, which will enable the relocation of services performed today from the current Port of Durres to Porto Romano.
According to yesterday’s decision the coordinates of the Current Port in Porto Romano have been increased. The expansion of the coordinates creates the possibility that in the port will be built several other piers that will be used for the processing of cargo ships, in addition to the fuel that is currently being carried out.
Meanwhile, it is also investing in the road that connects Porto-Romano with Durrës with a category A highway.
Earlier in the quarantine, on March 31, 2020 the Port MBP (Multi Buoy Mooring) under the administration of “Kastrati Group” which carries out cargo processing and oil storage services in Porto Romano received approval for an additional contract from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
Durrës Port Project and relocation to Porto Romano
The company Emaar of the United Arab Emirates proposed in November last year a project to develop the Port of Durres in services dedicated to tourism and the development of “Real Estate” at the luxury level, worth $ 2 billion. But the biggest challenge, which is the direct responsibility of the Albanian government, is related to the transfer of processing goods from Durrës to Porto Romano.
The processing of passengers will remain in the Port of Durres, while the processing of goods will take place in Porto Romano.
But experts in the field say relocating the freight processing service to Porto Romano will be a challenge. Currently, the bay of Porto Romano is connected to the national road network, which has not yet been fully completed. The area, which aims to accommodate the largest port in the country for goods, does not have a railway line, as in the Port of Durres. Also the distance to the national network is more remote and some basic logistical elements are missing.
The infrastructure in the Port of Durres has been built over the years through numerous studies and investments. While in Porto Romano it is missing. Durrës Port engineers told Monitor a while ago that the transfer cannot be done with current orders, but detailed studies and many time-consuming investments are needed. The rapid transfer of Cargo service to Porto Romano risks making Albania uncompetitive with the region. Kosovo, which is already the main user in the region of the Port of Durres with the construction of the new Highway with Macedonia arrives faster in the Port of Thessaloniki.
Attempts to transfer cargo service from the Port of Durres have failed earlier. Studies since 2000 have proven that the expansion of the Port of Durres to process more goods in perspective is impossible due to lack of space. The port, inside the city, is surrounded by buildings and moreover the sea is very shallow which does not provide anchoring of high tonnage ships.
Consequently, the transfer of cargo services was also targeted by Mr. Berisha’s government. In 2011, the Albanian Investment Agency invited investors to turn Porto Romano into a port for the processing of goods along with the development of the Hospital’s economic zone for an investment of 800 million euros. But the post-2008 global crisis hampered the interest of potential investors
