Those who bet on Taranto (between economy, transport and geopolitics)
The many eyes and the many attentions on the naval base of Taranto. The deepening of Arcangelo Milito
The relationship between the Navy and the City of Taranto is complex and has its roots in the history of Italy, even pre-republican. Those who deny it would be doing wrong to the millenary maritime tradition of Taranto, a strategic center since its origins in Magna Graecia.
The base of the Military Navy of Taranto and the neighboring port areas "are tempting" to many: from China to NATO, from container handling companies to tourism and pleasure boating operators. If we combine this with the proximity to the Tap / Tanap pipeline terminal arriving from Azerbajian via Turkey, Greece and Albania, it is understandable why Taranto takes on particular importance.
In his article for Il Manifesto of 13/10/2020 Alessandro Marescotti reproaches the government for paying more attention to the expansion of the naval base and military spending than the environmental emergency and the incidence of tumors in Taranto, for which the funds – allocated for several years – would be detrimental to public health. Always Marescotti contrasts all this to what is expressed in art. 1 of the Municipal Statute, according to which Taranto is a "peacemaker city". However, protection of public health and expansion of the naval base are in no way at odds because they can and must certainly coexist.
The concern of the Manifesto is increased by the US intention to contribute substantially (Marescotti does not quantify: they are $ 600 million) to the expansion of the Italian Navy base, which will become the key instrument of the SNF ("Standing Naval Forces") of the maritime core of the “Very High Readiness Joint Task Force”, deployed on the southern NATO flank. This deployment is part of the “Standing Nato Maritime Group 2” (SNMG2). This commitment for Taranto proceeds in parallel with the preparation of another important logistic center in Italy, this time dedicated to ground troops, near Solbiate (MI).
Reading certain chronicles it seems that militaristic, warlike and warmongering tones have awakened in Puglia, but is it really so? The real objective is to avoid the militarization of the territory or, much more likely, to prevent what Admiral Salvatore Vitiello, commander of the Southern Maritime Command of the Military Navy, clearly expressed, regarding Taranto: the creation of "a “Single cluster”, that is an integrated complex of logistic infrastructures that could be crucial for supporting the operational activities of the Alliance or for supporting humanitarian and rescue missions in the Mediterranean ». For clarity, this complex includes: Naval Base of Taranto, Arsenale della Marina, Naval Base of Brindisi, Naval Training Center of the Italian Navy (MARICENTADD, San Vito di TA), "NSPA Southern Operational Center" that is the headquarters of the Comit Headquarters marfor (the Italian Command of the Maritime Forces, certified by NATO as Command with Marine Reaction Capability), finally MARISTAER (Marine Aircraft Station) of Grottaglie , the AM 36 ° Stormo Caccia Base of Gioia del Colle and its 84 ° Center C / SAR.
Always in honor of accuracy and truth, in the past decades almost all the managers of the Italian Defense have tried to expand the port infrastructure of Taranto: just think of Spadolini in the city on 13/10/1989 for the centenary of the Naval Arsenal settlement and his enrichment, recommended by Senator Cataldo Nitti in his Economic and political considerations of July 1861.
Let's take a leap in time: after several years of waiting, on 28/7/2020 last Cipe approved the allocation of 79 (already financed with FSC 2014/2020 funds) of the € 203 million foreseen by the modernization program of the Mar Grande Naval Station of Taranto, to make it suitable for hosting the latest generation ships of the Navy. This expansion should allow mooring and storage of up to 19 large units, including the multirole / multifunction amphibious ship (Lhd V / Stol) “Trieste” (L 9890: 245 meters of hull only and 33 thousand tons). The first € 79 million are spread over a five-year period: 2.82 million in 2021, then 8.5 in 2022, 20.7 in 2023, 23.6 in 2024 and the same amount in 2025. The interventions (expansion of the Rotundi pier and redevelopment of the Chiapparo area) are part of a larger project, which involves the sale of the former Torpediniere station / quay in the Mare Piccolo – in the heart of Taranto! – and the consequent tourist-commercial exploitation of the areas concerned. In the latter area of the Torpediniere quay (accommodation cost: approximately € 40 million) the Green Aquarium will be built (additional Cipe allocation of € 50 million). All this offers a development perspective to the whole area, not at all dependent on military fortunes or warlike itches.
In our humble opinion, the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council Mario Turco summarized everything effectively: "The Taranto shipyard is essentially a future and strategic vision of the city and of the entire Ionian arc that materializes with investments with a high economic, employment and social. The various projects that we have financed in recent months and that we are preparing to carry out are part of a broad process of reconversion of which the territory is extremely urgent, after decades of political stalemate ”.
The entire Taranto port area would therefore host cruise ships, services, logistics, tourist facilities, etc. The highly commercial management of Taranto is further strengthened by the presence of operators specialized in the handling of cargo, containers and various goods. The Turkish Yilport Holding (controlled by Yildrim Group, Ad Robert Yuksel Yildrim ) has acquired control of the Terminal Containers in Taranto. On 8/04/2020, the Apulian councilor for economic development Borraccino expressed his satisfaction with the Ferretti Group's production site in the "ex Yard Belleli" area, world leader in yachting (value approximately € 100 million and 400 seats The whole Taranto port area is therefore attractive to foreign eyes, especially the Chinese ones. The Ferretti Group is 85% controlled by the Chinese of Weichai Group.
A report from our Aise (Agency for Security Abroad) found that Yilport Holding is a partner of the Chinese of Cosco, Sinosteel and Cmec, while the Turks did everything to highlight only the possession of 24% of Cma Cgm French Group (3rd world group for container handling) and the proposed doubling of handling volume (from 2 to 4 million Teu / year. Note: 1 standard Teu corresponds to 38 cubic meters of total footprint), as well as the repositioning of Taranto as a strategic hub in the Mediterranean . For its part, Copasir (Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) has placed the Taranto area under observation and drafted a dossier in which "concerns about possible investments by China in the port of Taranto" are advanced, especially in relation to the nearby NATO base . Finally, we understand that the 'Taranto question', and the relative safety concerning the NSPA Southern Operational Center Born away from indiscreet (perhaps Chinese) eyes and ears, was explicitly mentioned during the recent visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in late September in Italy.
At this point, finding a unitary Western approach to Chinese "soft power" centered on the importance of commercial relations and consequent dependencies would not be surprising. And Taranto is a small wheel of this gear. More: it would not even be a novelty if this approach were very likely in the NATO context to bypass European hesitations of German origin, after all we know that Germany is the 1st trading partner of China (at least € 209 billion in exchange). Another interpretation: whether Biden or Trump wins the US presidential race is irrelevant, for the American political-military and industrial complex it is strongly limiting Chinese commercial expansion at all levels.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/chi-punta-su-taranto-fra-economia-trasporti-e-geopolitica/ on Thu, 15 Oct 2020 07:46:10 +0000.