Ancona (Italy)

Ancona is a port city on the Adriatic Sea and in Italy's Marche region, with a population of around 100,000. The cruise port is located at short walking distance to downtown, lined up with street markets and shops. Ancona is approx 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Civitavecchia-Rome and one of Italy's main ferry ports on the Adriatic.

Fincantieri (one of the world's largest shipbuilding companies) owns the merchant shipbuilding yards Monfalcone, Marghera (Venice), Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Ancona, Castellammare di Stabia (near Naples) and Palermo (Sicily). The company also owns the naval shipyards Riva Trigoso (Genoa) and Muggiano (La Spezia).

On November 3, 2023, Fincantieri signed with ADSP (Central Adriatic Sea System Authority) an EUR 80 million deal for Ancona Port's development. The agreement was signed by Pierroberto Folgiero (Fincantieri’s CEO and Managing Director) and Vincenzo Garofalo (ADSP's President). By this project, the Port's existing infrastructure will be enhanced/expanded and upgraded by adding new construction piers, the existing drydock's expansion, and upgrades to all lifting facilities. The assets' development will result in increased capacity for handling larger ships (with bigger GT and DWT) from both the cruise and merchant sectors. Of the total EUR 80M investment, EUR 40M is public funding - EUR 20M for a new construction pier plus EUR 20M for the drydock's extension and securing the breakwater. The remaining EUR 40M are private investments (by Fincantieri SpA) as part of the new 40-year state concession of the Port. Fincantieri's investment is for advancing Ancona Port's shipbuilding activities.

Regularly-scheduled cruiseferries link Ancona with Croatia (Split, Zadar, Hvar Island), Albania (Durres), Greece (Patras, Igoumenitsa, Corfu), Italy (Venice). Among the largest ferry companies are SNAV, Adria Ferries, Minoan Lines, Anek Superfast, Jadrolinija (Croatia).

The town was founded by colonists from Syracuse in late-4th-century BC. In the 2nd-century BC, it was conquered by the Romans and developed a major port serving the Adriatic shipping trade. In the period 1532-1860, the city was directly ruled by the Roman Pope. City's best-known landmarks (most restored after the severe bombings during WW2 / 1939-45) include the Arch of Trajan (Roman Triumphal arch), Santa Maria Della Piazza Church (11th-century), San Ciriaco Cathedral (former Roman temple of Venus and a 5th-century basilica), Gothic-style buildings, Marche Museum, Piazza del Plebiscito.

Port Ancona welcomed its largest-ever (homeported) cruise liner (MSC Sinfonia) in June 2016. MSC Cruises announced Sinfonia's 2016 Ancona deployment in the summer of 2015. Since then, the Port Authority developed all technical solutions for docking the vessel (length 276 m / 906 ft) at the port's wharf (length 200 m / 656 ft). Ancona was chosen by MSC due to its strategic position for regular calls on Adriatic Sea cruise ports. In 2016, the port had scheduled a total of 34 ship visits (16 of which from MSC Sinfonia) with a total of around 40,000 passengers. Disembarking passengers can enjoy as tourist attractions the city's medieval architecture and museums.

In the pre-COVID 2019, the cruise port handled nearly 100,000 passengers (37% increase over 2018). In the post-COVID 2022 were handled 73026 passengers (+98% over 2021).

In 2023, the Port had scheduled a total of 51 cruise ship calls, most of which (30) were from the homeported here MSC Armonia. The remaining 21 booked berthings were for ships from 6 different companies - Azamara, Marella TUI UK, Oceania, Ponant, RSSC-Regent Seven Seas, and CroisiEurope.

Ancona cruise terminal