The international container terminal operating company APM Terminals (APMT) said it has opened a new container terminal in Vado Ligure, on the Italian Riviera, which will be capable of handling 900,000 TEUs of containerized cargo.
APMT has a 50.1% share in the “Vado Gateway,” while Cosco Shipping Ports has a 40% share and Qingdao Port International has a 9.9% share. APMT said the project is part of the “New Silk Road.” Chinese firms have invested in more than a dozen European ports in recent years.
Vado Gateway is the most important port infrastructure development in Italy over the last decades and the result of a 450-million-euro investment.
The terminal was commissioned by Autorità di Sistema Portuale del Mar Ligure Occidentale (Western Ligurian Sea System Port Authority), which will now entrust APM Terminals with the management of the facility for the next 50 years.
During a ceremony attended by the Vice-Minister for Italian Infrastructures and Transport Salvatore Margiotta, Paolo Cornetto, managing director of APM Terminals Vado Ligure, said: “We are proud that this project phase has been completed successfully and we are now ready to operate our new terminal. Thanks to great collaboration with all our partners and authorities, we have been able to overcome challenges and can now focus on offering our customers excellent service.”
The Vado Gateway terminal is expected to significantly increase the competitiveness of the Ligurian and Italian port infrastructure, making it a true hub for cargo moving to the northern part of the country, as well as markets north of Italy, such as Switzerland, Germany or north-east France.
The new terminal has already secured two important services operated by A.P. Moller-Maersk. Starting in February 2020, vessels on Maersk’s ME2 service, connecting the Mediterranean to the Middle East and India, and MMX service, connecting the Mediterranean to North America, will call Vado Gateway.
In addition to the newly opened facility, APM Terminals Vado Ligure also operates the adjacent Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal, the largest logistic hub in the Mediterranean dedicated to fruit.
Once fully operating, Vado Gateway capacity will amount to circa 900,000 TEUs per year, which, together with the 250,000 TEUs of the Reefer Terminal, will allow the Port of Vado to handle over one million TEUs every year.
