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DRY DOCKS IN THE PORT OF NAPLES: ANTITRUST ASCERTAINS ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION BY CAMED


PRESS RELEASE



PRESS RELEASE

DRY DOCKS IN THE PORT OF NAPLES: ANTITRUST ASCERTAINS ABUSE OF DOMINANT POSITION BY CAMED


Penalized with a 285,000 Euro fine, the operator must introduce informational transparency about dry dock availability in the context of advance reservations, to provide its competitors a fair chance to schedule their activities.


On October 28th, 2009, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato ruled that the Cantieri del Mediterraneo (CAMED) company had abused its dominant position in the rental market for dry docks and adjacent spaces, which are essential for maintenance and repair work in the port of Naples. Thanks to a thirty-year contract conveyed by the Port Authority in 2004, CAMED holds the dry dock concession for the port of Naples while operating simultaneously in the same port as a provider of nautical maintenance and repair services.
Launched in response to complaints lodged by the La Nuova Meccanica Navale company, the Antitrust investigation established that CAMED's practices could exclude other maintenance and repair providers operating in the Neapolitan port from access to dock 3, an essential infrastructure that is not duplicable at present. The company's conduct did in fact prevent competitors from confirming dry dock availability with enough advance notice for scheduling their own activities, thus denying them a key element for engaging in effective competition for contract acquisition.
In addition to the 285,000 fine, the Antitrust Authority ruling also requires CAMED to provide informational transparency about dry dock availability in the context of advance reservations (periods of 30 or more days after the reservation is requested) to provide its competitors a fair chance to schedule their activities.  


Rome - November 19th, 2009