Problems for connections with the islands due to the increasingly higher quayside. As a result of bradyseism in the port of Pozzuoli there is a very complicated situation, but one that could become even dramatic in the event of an emergency and escape due to eruptive risk, since there is no shipping plan in the same port as the new commander wrote Edward Russo. The bradyseismic crisis underway in the Campi Flegrei risks also involving maritime transport to Ischia and Procida due to the difficulties and dangers induced by the raising of the docks of the port of Pozzuoli, through which over a million passengers and more pass every year.the 300 thousand vehicles for the islands including the majority of vehicles that guarantee the supply of goods. With the port docks having become much higher, the operations The process of boarding and disembarking from ferries became very long and complicated, so much so that on more than one occasion buses and trucks remained stranded. Furthermore, the seabed has also risen by several centimeters, thus making the shoal facing the Emporio quay – especially on days of low tide and strong winds – a serious threat for ships they find themselves maneuvering to enter and exit the port; since the beginning of the year there have already been two incidents of cover-ups involving as many ferries, fortunately resolved without damage.
The officer’s letter to the authorities
In recent days the commander of the Captaincy of Pozzuoli, Lieutenant Edoardo Russo, asked the Prefecture for a meeting to evaluate solutions to restore functionality and safety to the Pozzuoli port, already hypothesizing possible limitations on maritime connections to Ischia and Procida in the event that no urgent dredging works are carried out in the Pozzuoli landing place.
In the letter sent to the prefect, Commander Russo specifies that in the absence of resolving interventions, the Port Authority of Pozzuoli will have to take into consideration the hypothesis of huge limitations on commercial maritime traffic for the two islands, a measure which once the tourist season has begun would produce disastrous consequences for the economy of Ischia and Procida and not to mention the enormous difficulties that would also arise for the logistics chain. Lieutenant Russo also underlines another aspect linked to the risks for the maritime activity carried out in Pozzuoli, that of the absence of an expeditious plan for the management of connections to the islands, in the event of both a volcanic and bradyseismic emergency. For the head of the Puteola maritime authority, in fact, this circumstance risks “generating interference with the necessary emergency management, as already made evident during the last exercise on 22 April”.
In short, the Russian commander puts his finger on the wound of a problem that risks becoming dramatic in the unfortunate event of an eruptive crisis: the silting of the port, the raising of the quay and the related problems could become sensational obstacles on a possible escape route through the sea. A situation that the officer reported to the competent authorities, primarily the Prefecture of Naples, and which it is hoped can be resolved as soon as possible.
