Life Marinaplan Plus

The overall objective of the MARINAPLAN PLUS project is to apply and demonstrate at industrial scale an innovative and reliable technology for marine and coastal management able to ensure navigability and access to ports throughout the year, thus allowing at the same time thriving maritime economy and environmental sustainability. The technology avoids the usual collection of littoral materials nearby the entrance of harbors through the installation of submerged and static devices, called “ejectors”, which are fed by pressurized water, aspire a mixture of water and sediments andconvey it through a pipe in an area where does not constitute obstacle to navigation.

Coherently with Strategy Marine Framework Directive, MARINAPLAN PLUS aims to develop an economically viable and environmentally friendly management plan for seabed maintenance which minimize or no longer includes dredging as the main technology for sediments removal, since dredging produces relevant pressures and impacts on marine environment. The specific objectives of the proposal are the following:

1. to apply and demonstrate at industrial scale the effectiveness of an innovative plant for seabed maintenance and sediment bypassing, keeping the port at the right depth, suitable for navigation, with a near-zero zero impact on marine environment;

2. to demonstrate a sustainable management of the sediment bypassing in coastal areas and ports which avoids physical losses and physical damages and which reduces physical disturbance (underwater noise in particular) produced by dredging operation;

3. to design a management plan for seabed maintenance able to guarantee the realization of economic activities related to navigability by a near-zero impact on marine environment;

4. to contribute to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (2014/89/EC) and to the EUSAIR macro strategy;

5. to contribute to the general EU policy framework for water set out in the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), Roadmap for a Resource-Efficient Europe (COM 571-2001) and Innovation in the Blue Economy (COM 254-2014)

Comune di Cervia (IT)

International Council of Marine Industry Associations - ICOMIA

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna