''Cantiere navale di Palermo'' (Palermo Shipyard) is a shipyard in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Sicily. The premise falls within the

Port of Palermo Port of Palermo () is a port serving Palermo, Sicily, Italy. The port of Palermo is one of the major ports for passenger traffic in the Mediterranean. According to author Patrizia Fabbri the port has been "a constant driving force not only for t ...

area. The Port Authority agreed a State concession to Fincantieri expiring 2057. The shipyard has two graving docks (respectively by 400,000 dwt and 20,000 dwt) and one new building shipway.

History

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

, an agreement was signed between the Italian State and the Municipality of Palermo providing for a major modernisation plan for the city's port, including the construction of a

careening Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fasten ...

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

for the maintenance and repair of large vessels. The project did not go ahead because of the political crisis that paralysed the city of Palermo. In July 1896, work had barely begun and was still at a standstill. In September 1896,

Ignazio Florio Jr. Ignazio Florio Jr. (1 September 1869 in Palermo – 19 September 1957 in Palermo) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.

, scion of the wealthy

Florio family The Florio family was a prominent entrepreneurial Italian family who started many lucrative activities in Sicily involving the export of Sicilian products (such as Marsala wine) in the 19th century, in some ways redeeming Sicily from feudal immo ...

, and shipowner and owner of the ''

Navigazione Generale Italiana Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company. History The company formed in 1881 by the merger of ''Florio, I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both o ...

'' company, which provided regular services within Sicily and to the ports of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, presented his own project for the construction of a shipyard with a large careening basin. Thanks to Florio's excellent relations with the head of government,

Antonio di Rudinì Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...

, the agreement for the construction of the careening dock and the shipyard was signed on 16 March 1897. The financing of the work was divided between the Florio family (66%), the Italian State, the Municipality of Palermo and the Province of Palermo, as well as a small subsidy from the ''Cassa di Risparmio'' of Palermo. Work began on 14 May 1898. The shipyard was inaugurated in 1903, but found itself without orders. The Florio family, which had been forced to go into debt with the ''

Banca Commerciale Italiana Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI, colloquially known as Comit), founded in 1894, was a major Italian bank based in Milan. In 1999, it merged with the group recently formed by the combination of Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde and Ban ...

'', was obliged to sell its shares in the shipyard in 1905 to Attilio Odero ( it), Florio's partner in ''Navigazione Generale Italiana'', but also owner of ''Cantiere navale di Sestri Ponente'' and ''Cantiere della Foce'' in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, and a partner in

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

steelworks. It was then amalgamated with the two shipyards belonging to Officine e Cantieri Liguri-Anconetani into Cantieri Navali Riuniti (CNR) on 31 January 1906. In 1925 CNR was renamed as Cantieri Navali del Tirreno after it gained control of the

Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso ''Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso'' (Riva Trigoso Shipyard) is an Italian shipyard. Founded on 1 August 1897 by Erasmo Piaggio's Società Esercizio Bacini (a drydock-operating company) in Riva Trigoso, it mostly built commercial ships. In 192 ...

. After completing bankruptcy proceedings in August 1973, it came under the control of

Italcantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

and then

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

in 1984.

Ships built

Notable ships built by Palermo Shipyard includes: * the

Soldati-class destroyer The Soldati class (also known as ''Camicia Nera'' class, meaning Blackshirt) were a group of destroyers built for the (Royal Italian Navy) during World War II. The ships were named after military professions (''Artigliere'', for example, meanin ...

s of

Royal Italian Navy The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origins ...

: Bersagliere and Granatiere in 1938 * the

Capitani Romani-class cruiser Capitani is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alice Capitani (born 1984), Italian gymnast * Giorgio Capitani (1927–2017), Italian film director and screenwriter * Ignacio Capitani (born 1987), Argentine footballer * Otello Ca ...

''Ulpio Traiano'' (1939) * the Ro-Ro ferry

MV Avrasya ''Avrasya'' was a Roll-on/roll-off, Ro-Ro ferry that was hijacked in the Black Sea hostage crisis of 1996. Originally built in 1953 as the passenger ship ''Lazio'', she was converted to a Ro-Ro ferry in 1967. In 1979, she was sold to Greece and ...

(built as ''Lazio'' in 1953) * the freighter

Grande America ''Grande America'' was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship built by Fincantieri in 1997, owned and operated by Grimaldi Lines, a subsidiary of Grimaldi Group. It sank in the Bay of Biscay in March 2019. Sinking On 10 March 2019, ''Grande America'' ...

(1997) * the offshore supply vessels ''UOS Challenger'' (2009), '' UOS Enterprise'', ''UOS Pathfinder'' and ''UOS Navigator'' (2010)

Bibliography

References

1897 establishments in Italy Shipyards of Italy Economy of Palermo Fincantieri Florio family Shipbuilding companies of Italy {{Italy-company-stub