n the sea is at one with the development of sea trade and the growth of companies which have marked the economic development of Sardinia over many years. The Plaisant family came to Sardinia from Tuscany following the trade routes of their sailing ships, and in 1756 established themselves in Carloforte, in the isle of San Pietro (facing the south-western coast of Sardinia), where they begun their activity as forwarders (or "spedisiuné" in the local genoese dialect). In 1840, the year our Shipping Agency was established, we were appointed by foreign companies as selling and commission agents for the extraction of mineral ores.

The port of Carloforte offered the only suitable harbour, well protected from adverse weather and with sufficient depth for the unloading and shipping of the ores extracted from the flourishing lead and zine mines of the Sulcis-Iglesiente region. At the time, mining activity was the only leading sector of the local economy.

Due to the lack of adequate roads and means of transport, the ore and all necessary equipment for the mines were transported by sea, at first by sailing ships, later on by steamers. During the 1930s, when the mining town of Carbonia was founded, coal extraction had a sudden upsurge, prompted by the increased internal demand in a period of economic autarchy. Consequently, in January 1938 our Agency opened an office in the island of Sant'Antioco.

During the war years, the new port experienced a bustle of coal-shipping activity: the steamers were arriving and departing day and night. The 1943 air raids targeted also the Sant'Antioco harbour, and the sea trade shifted to Cagliari , where a wide range of shipments was unloaded in large quantities to meet the needs of post-war reconstruction. On April 4, 1944, the third office of the Plaisant Shipping Agency was opened in Cagliari, where the activity of average agents too, which had begun in Carloforte in 1938, was developped further.

Thanks to the consistently high level of services we provided; in 1960 the General Agents in Genoa of the Lloyd's of London appointed the Plaisant firm as Lloyd's subagents in Sardinia.

In those years the industrial development that was involving Italy, reached Sardinia.
In 1965, a modern oil refinery plant was built at a short distance from the city of Cagliari, near the town of Sarroch . At first the traffic of the large oil-tankers was regulated by the harbour master's office in Cagliari, then both the harbour master and the Plaisant Agency opened branch offices on site. In the meantime, new industries processing aluminium and non-ferrous metals were set up in Porto Vesme , where the small harbour was equipped to receive ships up to 80,000 tons, thus becoming the first real industrial port in Sardinia.

The Plaisant Agency established its branch office in Porto Vesme in 1960. A similar change took place in Porto Torres , originally a small transit port between Sardinia and Corsica, which was upgraded into an important industrial harbour once petrochemical plants were established in the area. In order to meet the requirements of the main Petro-chemical Companies, the Plaisant firm opened its fourth branch office in Porto Torres in December 1972.

Oristano followed, where the Ferruzzi Company built a large cereal storage silos, and was assisted in shipping operations by Plaisant right from the first cargo vessel, the "Serafina F", in 1978. This port was able to operate outside monopoly of dock workers associations, thus attracting shipments from other Sardinian ports as well, and in particular large export cargoes of synthetic textiles from the Enichem plant in Ottana, that appointed Plaisant as their sole shipping agent. In the 1980s followed the appointment as agent by the main P.&I. Clubs thanks to the reliability shown in all our dealings with shipowners.

More recently, a new branch office has been set up in Olbia in order to follow closely the large flow of tourist cruising around Costa Smeralda and the whole coast of northern Sardinia, while another office in Arbatax , in 1996, keeps track of the revival of the local paper mill industry (which supplies newspaper printing plants) and of tourist traffic on the east coast.