PALERMO\ODESA (CI Ukraine) — In this Sicilian capital and throughout Sicily, talking about the Mafia, once a forbidden taboo, is now as common as talking about your favorite football team. Corleone, recognized by Hollywood as the purported birthplace of the Cosa Nostra, now features a city-funded museum dedicated to its history and “legality,” while local merchants offer digestives (amari) emblazoned with the image of Marlon Brando portraying Don Corleone in Francis Coppola’s film, The Godfather.

Among Sicilians, the traditional Mafia code of silence— omertà —could now be said to refer to the reluctance to discuss those creating jobs and economic opportunities in a region that should be one of Europe’s most economically vibrant areas, thanks to its strategic position in the Mediterranean and her oil- and gas-rich neighbors, Libya and Algeria.

Europe’s largest shipbuilder, Fincantieri of Trieste; MSC, the Geneva-based shipping and terminal company of Capt. Gianluigi and Rafaela (nee Diamant) Aponte; and Carnival Corporation of Miami, Florida, owned by Micky Arison — are triggering an economic transformation on the island not witnessed since the Italian economic boom period after World War II.

The renovated Palermo Cruise Terminal stands as a major symbol of revitalization at the port of Palermo, managed by West Sicily Gate—a joint venture between MSC and Carnival Cruise’s Italian subsidiary, Costa Crociere.

Annalisa Tardino, President of the Port Authority for Western Sicily, announced that the Palermo cruise terminal and the newly inaugurated Sammuzzo terminal are expected to increase passenger numbers from 1 million in 2025 to 1.2 million by 2027. At present, these terminals serve as the primary economic drivers for Palermo, with approximately 69 percent of the city’s tourists being international visitors.

Tourism remains the primary source of employment in Sicily, second only to public sector positions. However, Fincantieri’s shipyard, located less than a mile from both the cruise terminal and Palermo’s Ucciardone prison, has emerged as the most prominent employer on the island. It provides the highest quality and most secure jobs since Fiat Chrysler (Stellantis) closed its car plants in Termini Imerese at the end of 2011, which employed nearly 4,000 workers during the 1980s.

At present, Fincantieri directly employs 500 people at its Palermo shipyard, while an additional 2,500 individuals work indirectly as suppliers and contractors for the company. The Fincantieri shipyard has been involved in cruise ship hull extensions, Saipem oil and gas rigs and ships, and building mission critical Al Fulk Landing Platform Dock (LPD) ships for the Qatar navy [Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero credited Fincantieri ships of saving Qatar from Iranian ballistic missile attacks].

Fincantieri is planning to significantly expand the operations of its Palermo shipyard, with new contracts involving both bow construction and advanced technological upgrades for MSC Explora V vessels, as well as projects for Silver Sea Cruises. Additionally, the company is scheduled to construct two new cruise ships for Woodlands Hill, California-based Viking Cruises [NYSE VIK], with deliveries expected in 2030 and 2031.

Palermo is not the only place where Fincantieri and MSC are discreetly working to create transformational economic development. Both companies are pursuing separate initiatives to redevelop the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa.

MSC has established itself as a major shipper in Odesa, enhancing its presence over the past two years through the acquisition of controlling interests in container port operators and rail logistics companies in Odesa and Lviv. This strategy is aimed at positioning MSC as Ukraine’s primary logistics provider in a post-war and EU-member environment. In contrast, competitors such as Denmark’s Maersk and France’s CMA CMG have adopted a  “wait and see” approach regarding Ukraine.

Fincantieri on its part is pursuing two parallel projects with the Ukrainian government to redevelop the port of Odesa, with the initiatives personally supported by the company’s CEO, Pierroberto Folgiero.

The first involves constructing a shipyard dedicated to the production of next-generation commercial vessels. The second project is to equip the port of Odesa with anti-drone and submarine defenses to safeguard the port and underwater telecommunication cables against Russian attacks.

Expansion into Odesa is a logical next step for the Italian company following its success in building next-generation commercial ships for its Norwegian subsidiary VARD in Tulcea, Romania. Fincantieri employs some 4,500 workers in Tulcea and Braila, on the Ukraine and Moldovan borders.

Several international multilateral development finance institutions have expressed their willingness to support Fincantieri’s project in Odesa. The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and its insurance division MIGA, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) are ready to provide project financing along with political and war risk insurance.

Fincantieri shipyards in Odesa would represent the largest investment jointly financed by the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC), under the leadership of former Wall Street hedge fund manager Ben Black, and the EUR 120 billion Italian sovereign wealth fund, CDP. The US investment in Fincantieri is likely to be included as part of the US-Ukraine Investment Fund.

The operations of MSC and Fincantieri in strategically significant ports such as Palermo and Odesa are positioning these two European companies in pole position as sector leaders in the largest economy in the world, the United States of America.

MSC has already become the United States’ preferred shipping and logistics provider after taking over CK Hutchison port operations at the Panama Canal at the behest of President Donald Trump.  The takeover, with the financial backing of US asset management giant Blackrock, is part of the United States national security objective of lessening Chinese influence in geopolitically strategic ports, whether it be in Latin America, Europe, Asia or Africa.

The White House, following an Oval Office meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Trump, in April 2025, announced that it named Fincantieri as the preferred partner to bring about a rebirth of commercial ship building to the United States.

During a briefing in front of the White House at the exclusive The Ned private members club, Folgiero explained that Fincantieri builds ultra complex ships that are more like Boeing aircraft that steel boxes made by their Asian competitors.

With US DFC investment, Fincantieri ship made in Palermo, Odesa, Venice and even Trieste can be counted as American made.

Korea’s HD Hyundai is attempting to beat out Fincantieri — its largest western competitor — in building commercial vessels in the United States. Hyundai recently announced that has joined up with US private equity firm Cerberus and the Korean Development Bank to make multi-billion investments in the US shipyards with Newport News, Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries [NYSE: HII and Cut Off, Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore.

Fincantieri’s proven experience in shipbuilding in economically challenged regions like Tulcea, Palermo, and Odesa makes it well-suited to establish a profitable and vibrant shipbuilding hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

While Boeing and Airbus manufacturing in Mississippi and Alabama make those states attractive to Fincantieri, the Italian ship maker would be better off taking over a brown field shipyard in Beaumont, Texas.  The nearby Sterling Shipyards seems to be in as much worse for wear as the  Russian bombed shipyards in Odesa.

Beaumont, located near the border of Louisiana, benefits from Texas’ pro-business friendly policies and cheaper labor from Louisiana’s less friendly (bureaucratic) environment.

Beaumont, like much of the Gulf coast, has deep Italian ties.  The family of current US Ambassador to Italy, Tilman Fertitta, originated from Beaumont before moving to Galveston.  Tilman Fertitta later moved from his native Galveston to Houston where he built the multi-billion Landry’s Inc hospitality group and purchased the Houston Rockets NBA basketball team.

Tilman, who is close to Carnival’s Arison thanks to their ownership of NBA teams Miami Heat and Rockets, can use the opening of a 50 million euro interface complex on land and at sea at the Port of Palermo—set for July at the earliest—to highlight Italy’s importance as the United States’ key strategic ally.

Ambassador Fertitta, whose family originates from Cefalu, Sicily, is well positioned to utilize his established relationship with President Donald Trump in supporting Port Authority President Tardino and Palermo Mayor Roberto Lagalla towards making Palermo into the “Miami of Europe.”

Fincantieri’s Folgiero and MSC’s Aponte could follow the example set at the April 2025 opening of the Fincantieri-built MSC Cruise Terminal in Miami—the largest in the world—by inviting Prime Minister Meloni and President Trump to Palermo. This time, however, instead of joining by video link, Meloni and Trump would be present in person.

By PK Semler in Palermo, Sicily; Odesa, Ukraine and Houston, Texas. For more information, email pks@capitolintelgroup.com

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Also published with permission in the Lviv Insider

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