Contship Italia Group together with Port System Authority of the Eastern Ligurian Sea have gathered with the cargo owners and international freight forwarders in New York on Sep 9-10, to highlight the uniqueness of the Southern Gateway solution from La Spezia; the first new port control center in Italy, intermodal connectivity, advantages for North American cargo owners and effects of climate change, such as the lowering of the water levels of the Rhine river, one of the main routes to reach Switzerland from Northern Europe.
The Contship Italia Group, Italy’s leading intermodal transport and terminal operator, together with Port System Authority of the Eastern Ligurian Sea (ports of La Spezia and Marina di Carrara), embarked on their second US Road Show in New York on Sep 9-10 to promote the benefits of the La Spezia’s intermodal connectivity and Contship Italia’s unique integrated logistics solution.
This event is supported by the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, in collaboration with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port of Long Beach, with the patronage of Consolato Generale d’Italia in New York and Los Angeles and Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
The United States is one of the most important commercial partners of Italy and the main destinations for cargo routed via La Spezia. More than 40 US operators attended the event at the Marriott Hotel in Newark (New Jersey), including Mr. Francesco Genuardi, Consul General of Italy in New York, and Mr. Sam Ruda, Director of New York/New Jersey Port Authority.
Mrs. Carla Roncallo, Port System Authority of La Spezia and Carrara President, has illustrated the existing and future infrastructures in the port of La Spezia, commenting: “The scope of these events is to interact directly with the logistics operators, those who are interested in cargo transportation, and I believe this is really useful to increase our volumes. We, as institutional players, showcase the existing and planned infrastructures, leaving it to the terminal operator to illustrate the commercial part in detail. This is a consolidated formula, tested last year, which seems to work well.
Amongst the other infrastructures, we are keen on presenting the port service center, which will soon open in Santo Stefano Magra - the dry port of La Spezia. It is the first opening in Italy and one of the most advanced in Europe, and will host the Custom Single Window, a service consolidation feature which anticipates the upcoming regulations”.
“We are happy to be back in the US after last year’s meetings in New York and Toronto,” stated Mr. Daniele Testi, Marketing & Corporate Communication Director of Contship Italia Group. “Especially this year marks Contship’s 50th anniversary in the business. The United States is one of the most important commercial partners for Italy and for La Spezia Container Terminal trades. In the past two days, we met customers, forwarders, logistics operators, American and international partners to showcase the benefits of Contship’s integrated offer and the potential of the infrastructures in the La Spezia homeport. These are fundamental elements to sustain the operational efficiency and to control the growing risk of delays and disruptions in global supply chains, currently under stress in Europe and elsewhere, due to climate change. The low water levels of the Rhine river, one of the main routes to connect Switzerland to Northern Europe, is just one of the many risks which make the Southern Gateway solution from La Spezia competitive and attractive.”
The Italian delegation also includes Mr. Peter Hill, Commercial Director of Contship Italia Group, Mr. Nicolò Marrali, Sales Representative of Hannibal, Contship multimodal transport operator and Mrs. Monica Fiorini, Marketing, Promotion and Communications Manager of the Port System Authority.
After New York, the Contship delegation will visit Long Beach (September 12th e 13th) and Houston (September 16th e 17th).
