The competitive battle underway between the Italian Grimaldi Euromed and the Danish DFDS records a new noteworthy episode on the maritime route connecting Istanbul in Turkey with Trieste for the transport of ro-ro cargo.
According to what was learned by SHIPPING ITALY from sources close to the Neapolitan shipping group, just as DFDS is preparing to return from charter, and therefore remove from the Turkey route, the ship Pol Stella, Grimaldi from next Saturday is pressing the accelerator by adding a fourth ship and further increasing the hold capacity offered on the connection. More precisely, it will be the Eurocargo Malta, a ship 200 meters long capable of transporting approximately 4,000 linear meters of rolling freight (equal to 280 semi-trailers and 200 cars). It will join the other three ships of the ‘Eco’ series with a capacity of 7,800 linear meters (equivalent to over 500 semi-trailers).
The entry of a fourth ship which will call at the HHLA PLT Italy terminal in Trieste is not the only news, however, because, according to the official figures available to the Neapolitan group, precisely in the past week, on the route connecting /Marmara to Trieste, Grimaldi prevailed for the first time over DFDS in terms of rolling loads and containers shipped. Until ten days ago, the Danes had a market share on the route of 52%, while last week Grimaldi, thanks to the 2,427 loads shipped compared to DFDS’s 2,239, prevailed for the first time with a market share of 52% in its favor. This was achieved using three ships so far (with a fill rate close to 80%) compared to the six deployed by the Northern European competitor, which had however recently already indicated its intention to reduce its offered hold capacity on this connection.
Also regarding traffic from Turkey, in the coming days the number of trains connecting the Giuliano terminal with Northern Europe at the HHLA PLT Italy terminal in Trieste is expected to increase from 10 to 16, as a result of the gradual transfer of volumes onto the ships of the Campanian shipping company.
