Presented on September 14th: Abruzzo now has its own Propeller Club too
Established in July, the association Propeller Club Abruzzo Port of Ortona made its official debut: it is the 9th Propeller Club active on the Adriatic coast and the 27th in Italy.
But what is the Propeller Club? We are talking about a non-profit and apolitical cultural association, which promotes meetings and relationships between people involved in maritime, land and air transport and promotes training and technical and cultural updating among all those belonging to the economic categories and professionals related to international and national maritime and transport activities.
The Propeller Club was born from the initiative of a small group of maritime entrepreneurs from New York in 1922. The Association then spread throughout the world and, today in Italy, with the entry of the Abruzzo club, it has 27 groups distributed in the major port cities. A step which, although symbolic, further highlights the importance of Ortona in the international maritime panorama: a port city of Abruzzo which, with its ancient history in seafaring, the important Nautical Institute, the large community of seafarers and entrepreneurs in the sector, will now be able to count on the valorisation of port activities and on greater success of the Port in the Adriatic.
Ortona between history, tradition and future at the center of the plans of the newborn Propeller Club
As explained in the note released by the newly formed port association: “Ortona is an ancient port considered strategic, since Roman times, due to its position in the Adriatic and trade with the Balkan area, the countries of the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. A port that handled 2022 tonnes of goods in 1.168.000 (36% of refined petroleum products and 64% of solid bulk), but it is a port with great development potential. Well connected to the large industrial area of Val di Sangro and Val Pescara, with the Adriatica railway, the A/14 motorway and the A/24 motorway, with Pescara airport and the Abruzzo interport".
And precisely on this infrastructure, the Propeller explains how it is “considered strategic for the industrial, commercial and tourism development of the region” and underline how “significant financial investments are planned to make it more functional and productive in economic and employment terms, such as: deepening of the seabed, expansion of the docks, construction of new yards, last mile road and rail connection and the green and digital transition”.
Clear objectives for the development of the port of Ortona and Abruzzo
What are the objectives of the Propeller Club of Ortona? As explained by the members themselves, the aim is to highlight and discuss the legitimate interests of the healthcare sector transportand logistics, infrastructure, the state propertyand trainingand culture of the sea, the maritime welfare, in addition to building the primary objectives of the Propeller Club Abruzzo, also corresponds to the interests of the local and regional community. Following the national format, periodic meetings dedicated to specific themes of interest to the Association are planned, with the aim of offering professional contributions useful for the growth of our region.
During the presentation, last September 14th, after greetings to the guests by the President of the Club, Dr. Euclide di Pretoro, there were speeches by Prof. Piergiorgio Landini and Dr. Luigi Di Giosaffatte, who reiterated the importance and urgency of the approval of the new Port Master Plan , implementation of works already planned and financed, and those aimed at the usability of the port than those relating to logistical connections, starting with the high-capacity railway on the Pescara-Rome line and the "last mile" both road and rail.
Following this, the government commissioner of the ZES Abruzzo, Prof. Mauro Miccio, announced the possibility of establishing the Customs Free Zones also in our industrial area, which will become an entire SEZ area.
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