US shippers to benefit from expanded Eurozone-Connectivity and Port-to-Door solutions from Contship Italia’s La Spezia Container Terminal

Contship Italia Group, Italy’s leading intermodal transport and terminal operator, together with the Port Authority of La Spezia and in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, successfully concluded its second US roadshow, meeting Port of Houston representatives today (Sept 17th, 2019)

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 Contship Italia’s senior management visited New York, Long Beach and Houston to interact with more almost 100 senior supply-chain professionals who attended the official events over the past ten days or participated to a series of “one to one” meetings.

“Operated by Contship Italia Group, La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) is the second largest container gateway-port in Italy. The United States is one of the most important commercial partners for Italy and for LSCT, with four weekly strings covering all of North America, the East Coast, Gulf Coast and West Coast, connecting with 17 major American Ports.”

“It was a real pleasure to share with US shipping and supply-chain professionals, how they can benefit from Contship’s unique integrated Port-to-Door solutions. We certainly look forward to receiving more US ship-calls and goods through our Southern Gateway” stated Mr. Peter Hill, Head of Sales and Business Development.

“The US operators, including freight forwarders, NVOCC’c and cargo owners were especially impressed by Contship rail and last-mile capabilities. Contship Italia is the only company in Europe that manages container terminals and provides rail traction services, inland container yard depots and rails hubs across Europe, provided through its subsidiaries Oceanogate Italia, Rail Hub Milano and Hannibal”.

“The one-stop service allows US customers to access almost 50% of Italy’s total GDP with one single call, as well as gaining strong cross-border connectivity into Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria, whilst retaining full control of the entire shipment process.” said Mr. Daniele Testi, Contship Italia’s Marketing & Communication Director. 

During the roadshow, Mr. Testi also addressed the growing concern on the impact of global warming on Eurozone’s inland transportation and he highlighted the risk management solutions which shippers can choose in mitigating these risks.

“In recent years, the Rhine waterway has been increasingly affected by climate change. The water levels of this transport artery, critical to moving coal, auto-parts and other goods, have been lower each year and are becoming more and more impassable.” He pointed out.

“There is a real risk the impact of low river levels to cargo-flows will gradually increase. To minimize reliance on the Rhine waterway and the risk of delays, especially in summer, companies are looking into integrated sea and inland connectivity solutions provided by our Southern Gateway option via LSCT”.

“Another major industry trend is the drive for larger fuel-efficient ship sizes, which require significantly enhanced terminal infrastructure.  LSCT was the first terminal in Italy to accommodate 14,000 TEU vessels in 2011. To cope with increasing traffic volumes, LSCT will embark on the Garibaldi Pier extension that will allow La Spezia port to handle the latest generation of 20,000 TEU capacity ships,” Mr. Testi concluded.