After a fractious period when Italian shipowners looked on the verge of a damaging split, two of the opposing factions have patched up their differences.
The d’Amico cousins, Paolo and Cesare, who pulled out of Rome-based shipowners' association Confitarma last year, have renewed the membership of their d'Amico Societa di Navigazione.
The cousins patched up their differences with Confitarma in October, ending a year of rancour over the direction the association was taking that started with their withdrawal in the summer of 2017.
The d’Amicos attribute their decision to rejoin to the past year's hard work of standing Confitarma president Mario Mattioli.
“We have common goals that unite us for which we are working together,” the d’Amicos said in a statement.
TradeWinds reported in the summer of 2017 that Confitarma was reeling from a split over its direction.
A breakaway group withdrew from the association in a move that threatened to weaken its voice in domestic and international political circles.
Rebels included Italia Marittima, Ignazio Messina and Grandi Navi Veloci.
But it was the departure of the d’Amicos — one of Italy’s more international and successful shipowning operations — that was most damaging.
Damaging departure
The family has been synonymous with the Italian shipowners' body for many years, with three members of the family presiding over it at different times.
The defectors left after the election of a new board that was to be responsible for appointing a successor to outgoing president Emanuele Grimaldi, who was stepping down after four years.
The issue caused a rift on geographical lines between Neapolitan owners in southern Italy and others in the northern city of Genoa, who are increasingly allied to Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co.
