Trieste (Italy)

Trieste is a major seaport (locode ITTRS) and city (population around 205,000) in Italy. The port is located in the north-eastern Adriatic Sea, approx 145 km (90 mi) east of Venice. The Port houses Fincantieri Trieste ATSM Shipyard. Near Trieste (in Monfalcone) is the Monfalcone Shipyard - one of Fincantieri-owned shipbuilding yards. Fincantieri is currently ranked among the world's largest shipbuilding companies. Fincantieri's other merchant shipbuilding yards are Marghera (Venice), Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Ancona, Castellammare di Stabia (near Naples) and Palermo Sicily, plus the naval shipyards Riva Trigoso (Genoa) and Muggiano (La Spezia).

The city features Roman ruins including an archway and a theatre. Sights in the old German town include the Castello (1470), today housing a medieval museum, and the 14th-century Cathedral of San Giusto including part of a Roman temple. Tourists can also visit nearby Miramare Castle, built for Archduke Maximilian (Emperor Maximilian of Mexico) in 1850.

Originally, Trieste was a Roman colony. It came under the control of Venice and later Austria for whom it was a prime port. In 1915 Trieste became part of Italy as part of the World War I treaty settlements. However, the key position made it a prize in WW2 (1939-1945) and control switched from Germany to Yugoslavia and Italy (up to 1954).

The city's location made it a major commercial cargo port. During the 19th century was created Porto Nuovo (district northeast to downtown).

On November 26, 2018, MSC Cruises officially announced the acquisition of a significant stake in the holding company TAMI (Trieste Adriatic Marine Initiatives Srl) that owns and manages Trieste Terminal Passeggeri (port's ferry and cruise terminal). In 2020, MSC will start homeport operations from Trieste (roundtrip itineraries).

In October 2020 became operational a new Gottwald Mobile Harbor Crane at Port Trieste's new cargo terminal. The new gantry crane (manufactured by Konecranes) handles TEU-containers, general- and heavy project cargoes. The new terminal is operated by PLT (Piattaforma Logistica Trieste SrL) - a public-private partnership between local companies. The new smart crane (Model 5, variation G HMK 5506) has max lifting capacity 125 tons, max working radius 51 m (167 ft) and can handle Post-Panamax class vessels (boxships, cargo carriers, heavy project cargoes). The crane has a built-in external (electric) power supply capability.

On September 28, 2020, HHLA (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG via its 2018-founded subsidiary HHLA International GmbH) signed an agreement to purchase a majority stake (50,01%) in Piattaforma Logistica Trieste (PLT/port's multi-use terminal), with the transaction to be closed in January 2021.

• This was HHLA’s 3rd investment in a foreign port - after Odessa Ukraine and Tallinn Estonia. The Trieste agreement included developing more space (expansion by adding adjacent areas) and increasing terminal's capacity. The deal was signed by Angela Titzrath (HHLA) and Francesco Parisi (PLT).
• Piattaforma Logistica Trieste terminal facilities cover 28 hectares (69 acres / 0,28 km2) of land area and provide mainly general cargo handling and logistic services.
• The new HHLA-developed terminal (scheduled to become operational in 2021-Q1) was designed to handle container ships and RoRo vessels. Following the investment, PLT terminal's annual capacity was increased to ~300,000 TEU-containers, ~90,000 RoRo units and ~700,000 general cargo tonnes.

Following Venice's cruise ship ban (July 2021), the companies MSC and Costa replaced Venice (as homeport) with other Italian ports. Passengers were actually collected at Venice, then via buses transported to a different Italian port (Trieste or Monfalcone).