The West Med Corridors, twin project of the East Med Mos, identified 4 potential MoS corridors in the West Mediterranean region and specifically, of the European countries involved (Italy, Spain, France and Malta).
The study focused on different objectives: identify the demand, analysis of the needs, service quality requirements, priorities of the new routes of the region and evaluation of the incentives related to these corridors.
It is worth to recall the scenario in which this project was launched: an important bilateral meeting between Italy and Spain, held in La Maddalena on September 2009. During the summit, for which RAM collaborated to draft the agreement supporting the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport, a Memorandum of Agreements for the development of the MoS was signed and restated the reciprocal commitment to develop and share common projects and to establish a specific intergovernmental commission.
As part of the West Med Corridors project, the 1st call for proposals was launched (June 2009) to receive proposals for the implementation or activation of new maritime routes. The call, concluded last December 31st, collected several proposals, all of which were based on the bottom-up principle and coming from the 4 countries involved. Following the launch of the call, an important international conference on the MoS was organized and held in Rome on October 1st; the conference was attended by several European Commission and Member States representatives, and by many operators from across Europe and North Africa.
The project contributed to the Master Plan for West Mediterranean, which will be taken as a reference for future initiatives for the development of the moS, both at European and national level.