ALTERNATIVE SEA ROUTES FOR FREIGHT TRANSPORT BETWEEN SICILY AND NORTH-CENTRAL ITALY

aodal split of freights to and from Eastern Sicily is mainly performed by road carriers. Technological development of shipping opens new perspectives for Ro-Ro transport between ports in Sicily and Northern and central Italy. To investigate the shippers behavior and the economic feasibility of Ro-Ro services, research has been carried out, articulated in four steps: analysis of freight traffic and performance of freight transport; analysis of goods transport operator behavior and prevision of aptitude to divert travel mode to Ro-Ro; investigation of performance of modern vessels for very heavy traffic; design and economic analysis of Ro-Ro services between Sicily and the ports on the Central and Northern coasts of Italy.