In Malta, particularly the Msida Marina, the filth of the waters is untenable, as well as being very harmful to the surrounding areas.  In Msida, the water is black and stinks to high heaven.  During the winter, my boat suffered plenty of rainfall and partly sank: you would not imagine the volumes of, literally, black sludge that had to be churned out. This was no mean feat, and definitely for the faint of heart of stomach.  I am reproducing in its entirety the article which brought back to me these meanderings of mine ….

Time to observe and absorb

Wilfred Sultana

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080416/opinion/time-to-observe-and-absorb

Some are more sure than others of Malta’s potential as a yachting hub. Some are more concerned than others about the urgent needs of the local yachting industry. Some are more perplexed than others for Malta not keeping pace with the development of this industry. Some are more downcast than others knowing that, while countries surrounding us have developed yachting facilities, in most cases many years after us, they have overtaken us and are miles ahead of us in terms of the facilities and services they offer.

I do not intend to mention Malta and our yachting industry any further because, at times, it is important to observe and absorb what is going on around you. I came across a report drawn up by Stat-USA/internet, a service of the US Department of Commerce, and posted on the website of Industry Canada, which I felt like sharing. The title of the report was Opportunities In Italy For US Companies Operating In The Design, Planning And Management Of Marinas.

The development and expansion of existing marinas in Italy represents a major opportunity for US companies operating in related sectors. The Italian government is planning to build a coherent network of marinas that will boost the national economy. To achieve this important objective both the regional governments and the port authorities are working on several projects. In some cases, especially when the southern regions are involved, there are also European grants available.

The development of marinas is closely related to the tourism market. Recent data from Istat (the Italian national institute of statistics) indicates an increasing number of tourists interested specifically in the nautical tourism sector. This data reinforces the necessity to renew Italy’s marine infrastructure in order to boost the local economy and the pleasure boat market for both foreign and national tourists. Italy faces tough competition from other Mediterranean countries, such as Spain, France and Greece in the EU, Tunisia and Morocco in North Africa and even Turkey. All these countries will undercut Italian nautical tourism if the country doesn’t begin to provide appropriate infrastructure. Now, with a favourable euro exchange rate, competition from non-EU members is getting stronger, because Europeans always find it easy to go abroad.

Surveys have highlighted two distinct problems regarding the Italian marinas: (1) marinas are few and poorly distributed along the national territory; (2) most marinas are inefficient and obsolete.

Comparing a southern region to a northern one can be useful to draw a picture of the divided situation of the country. Calabria, a large southern region surrounded by three seas with hundreds of miles of coastline, has about 2,000 mooring berths while Liguria, a northern region smaller than Calabria with a smaller coastline, offers almost 16,000 berths.

The northern regions count for 58 per cent of all available moorings in Italy whereas the 42 per cent in the southern regions include the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, which are considered southern regions.

The fact that most of the work that has to be done to stimulate the expansion of Italian marinas is situated in the south of the country is a positive factor. The Italian government and the European Union will fund targeted projects in key sectors (marine/transport infrastructure among them) to encourage the development of southern Italy.

The Italian government is trying to adapt Italian ports to the increasing demands of marinas to permit them to host recreational crafts. The government’s plan starts with renovating existing marinas. To achieve this major objective, Sviluppo Italia, the Italian government’s internal development agency, created a company called Italia Navigando. This company is actively programming and implementing several initiatives to build a well-developed network of marinas in nine years. It plans to reconvert existing marinas and build new ones if necessary.

The project is important because it is part of a higher-scale development venture that aims to integrate marinas with tourism centres that will help to develop southern Italy’s economy. Italia Navigando supervises the whole project from the initial planning to financing, implementation and, in some cases, the management of the new structure. This new network will be composed of 50 marinas: 40 in southern Italy and 10 in the centre-north of the country. The project is to be in place within nine years and is divided in three triennial plans. For the first triennial plan Italia Navigando expects to connect 20 marinas. The estimated overall cost is of €270 million. The Italian government will invest €200 million in this project.

European financing, together with national and regional financing, will allow investments totalling about €9 billion in the region of Campania. The regional government intends to create a regional network of marinas to support development of tourism and boost the local economy. According to the regional plans, several marinas will be reconverted to improve infrastructure and the quantity and quality of services provided. The most important marina development project in Campania will be in the province of Caserta. The new structure plans to have about 1,000 mooring berths and all the required structures to guarantee a functional sea connection. Something like €35-40 million will be invested in this project.

The main objective in Sicily regarding the development of marinas is to build a network of Sicilian marinas that will maximise the advantages of the island’s strategic geographic position. Positioned between the northern Mediterranean and the African coasts, Sicily will be able to provide quality services to pleasure boats as it lies on the crossroads of tourist flows across the Mediterranean. The project is to build a well-developed network of marinas that will allow yachts to circumnavigate the island in assisted stages with a maximum distance of about 30 nautical miles.

One needs go no further. To survive, our yachting industry must have an immediate regeneration solution. No long-term plans are feasible any longer. Malta’s 2,000 yachting berths on our five existing marinas are all taken up, with application lists for berths constantly growing longer. Yet, most serious of all, the local trade cannot service requests by foreign yachts planning to visit Malta this summer, I mean in two months’ time, because no berths are available. Yes, it is important to observe and absorb, but then?

Last September, 39 students enrolled at the institute – 36 following the Master of Laws programme, and 4 following the Advanced Diploma. This year’s course was the largest complement ever, an encouraging sign of the institute’s growing success. There have also been students following short courses at the Institute during the year.  Since the students come from countries having different legal systems, the course kicks off with a number of lectures on the different legal systems and introductions to the two main areas of law: public international law and shipping law.

Subsequently a number of courses are given, each comprising of a series of lectures, imparting knowledge on the various areas of law involved. Interestingly, the course has the unique feature of providing pratical knowledge too: it takes into account the fact that the students are, in many cases, already practising lawyers or are somehow employed in the maritime field. This year, as always, the course was composed of lawyers, a number of Captains, Commanders and other Officers from Navies all over the world, a judge, and various holders of important offices within their countries.

This year included visits by various renowned experts or eminent firgures in international maritime law who imparted their knowledge to the students in courses such as: Carriage of Goods by Sea by Professor Francis Reynolds, Marine Insurance by Dr Marko Pavliha and Professor Pingf Sze, Marine Environment by Mr Mitja Grbec and Dr Stefano Filletti. Some of the lectures had a more practical approach, such as those on Maritime Safety and Security. One of these visitors was Dr Philippe Boisson from Bureau Veritas, who gave a detailed and fascinating expostion of the legal issues was accompanied by pratical issues whih help to understand the reasons behind the law, and how to translate that law into the day-to-day running of a ship. Another such visitor was Prof. F. Wiswall, a world expert on collisions and now at the helm of the Comite’ Maritime Internationale, who highlighted many practical and legal issues concerning collissions at sea. Other visitors of eminent standing included  President Emeritus of Portugal Mario Soares, whose contribution to the law of the sea was of deep significance, senior officials from the US Coast Guard, Commissioner Joe Borg who is currently spearheading the EU’s Green Paper on Maritime Policy and our very own Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, himself a former practitioner in maritime law.

As always, the sheer driving force behind this course was the lecturing complement of the Institute. Professor Attard, Director of IMLI, is at the helm, providing the students with many networking opportunities, as well as an astounding insight into the law of the sea. His lectures are delivered with a passion on the subject, which is highly infectious as he delves further into issues concerning delimitation of maritime zones, the high seas, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and a multitude of international law issues that are currently of interest. The resident and regular lecturers, through their encouragement and support for the students, have made following the course a pleasant journey indeed.

Other than the academic work, life at IMLI has also entailed interesting extracurricular activities of interest. This included a number of receptions where the students integrated with the visiting lectures, field trips to two ships, an international cooking competition, a photographic competition entitled “Life at IMLI” and of course, several student-organised activities.

Above all, perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned for many was about tolerance. Since the cultures of the participants vary immensely, students had to exercise discretion and tolerance with respect to each other, and learn to appreciate that other people from a different culture have a different way of doing things. Of course this will be particularly useful to those of us that will proceed to obtain employment in a multi-cultural environment.

The course entailed attendance of three lectures daily, which spanned throughout most of the day. Tests and assignments during the first term permitted guaging progress. The second term proceeded at a much faster pace, entailing submission of the legislative drafting project and the dissertation, assignment and, at the end, the final examinations: one exam in Shipping Law and one exam in the Law of the Sea.  Tension was rife during the last month – as would be expected – but all’s well that ends well, and the students are now looking forward to continuing their careers and putting their knowledge into use.

For most participants, reverting to student life has meant that, for the past eight months, many responsibilities were lifted, and one was only required to focus on the completion of the course. The rest became secondary. Other than the tension associated with exams, life at IMLI could be said to have been immensely interesting and, I dare say, fun.

The course ended formally on graduation day, this year on the 5th May 2007. This was followed by a field trip to London, which is the heart of maritime law activity. A number of visits to important institutions were made. From London, most students headed back out to their homes all over the world. 

The subject I chose for my dissertation concerns competition in maritime transport. A copy may be obtained upon request.