TIRANA, Dec. 21 – Durres Port authorities say the country’s largest port is losing its competitiveness from the compulsory customs scanning that all trucks have to undergo, a situation which causes unjustified delays and increases costs, forcing businesses to seek alternative ways either through road transportation or neighboring ports for their trade exchanges.
Long lines of lorries waiting to undergo scanning at Durres Port before embarking have been a common view since last March when authorities lifted a risk-based scanning regime in a bid to fight drug trafficking, mostly cannabis hidden in exports destined for Italy.
Artjan Qirici, the head of the Durres Port Authority, says the country’s largest port, also serving as a hub for other landlocked regional countries such as Kosovo and Macedonia, has been losing large volumes of goods and income since the introduction of the compulsory scanning which is carried out by an American-Albanian concessionaire.
“We are losing volumes of goods which are finding new alternatives either through road transportation by passing through Macedonia, Serbia and Europe or through Montenegro’s Bar port which has seen a considerable increase in their handing to Italian ports and we have also been losing trucks from Macedonia,” Qirici has told a local TV.
“The situation is emergent and immediate action must be taken because we are losing volumes and the Durres Port cannot even think of increasing its volumes without increasing its transit volumes,” he adds.
Trucks and trailers handled through Durres port pay a €22 fee to the concessionaire selected to scan cargos, but the modern technology scanning has not been very efficient in curbing drugs trafficking to Italy due to apparent bribes and favoring by implicated local police authorities.
Earlier this year, ten officials of the anti-drugs department Durres Port were arrested for favoring the handling of huge cannabis cargos after rescanning in Italian ports unveiled metric tons of cannabis.
Cannabis cultivation and trafficking saw a huge increase in 2016 making Albania Europe’s largest cannabis producer, but police say the situation has been brought under control this year.
The Durres Port Authority says it handled 3.4 million metric tons of goods in the first 11 months of this, a 7 percent increase compared to the same period last year, but the moderate hike is mainly dedicated to huge imports of steel pipes for the Albania section of the major Trans Adriatic Pipeline bringing Caspian gas to Europe.
Offering regular trips to the Italian ports of Bari, Ancona and Trieste, the country’s largest port also handled about 819,000 passengers in January-November, a quarter of whom were foreigners.
The Durres Port targets becoming a regional hub for landlocked Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. It has representation offices in Kosovo and Macedonia.
Key operations in Durres port such as the container and ferry terminals are handled by foreign companies under concession contracts.
The Durres Port handles about three quarters of maritime passengers and the overwhelming majority of about 90 percent of transport. Albania has three other ports in Vlora, Saranda and Shengjin with the latter only involved in maritime transport.
The port has also become an attractive cruise ship tourism destination with thousands of tourists visiting the ancient city of Durres as part of their Mediterranean tours.
