MSC attacks Italian terminals

Genoa - The MSC Group has its eyes on Italy’s docks. And it does so having become the sole operator of the container terminal managed by Conateco in the port of Naples, given that the Chinese COSCO Group has left the scene. The Geneva-based company led by the Aponte family is growing and is in the process of buying stakes in ten Italian ports from Trieste to Gioia Tauro. The other ports are Venice, Ravenna, Ancona, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Civitavecchia and Naples. MSC bought a 45% stake in TMT, which operates at the Molo Settimo Wharf container terminal in Trieste, and at the Venice Intermodal Terminal (TIV). In Ravenna, on the other hand, MSC’s ships dock at the TRC, and in Ancona at the Adriatic Container Terminal (ACT). In Genoa, the “Bettolo Consortium”, which consists of Luigi Negri’s GIP (the operator of the Sech Terminal) and Gianluigi Aponte’s MSC, is waiting for the Port Authority of Genoa to grant the concession for the terminal of the same name that is currently under construction. And finally, there are also the terminals in La Spezia (LSCT), Livorno (Lorenzini & C.), Civitavecchia (RTC), Naples (Conateco) and Gioia Tauro (MCT). And that’s not all: apart from the considerable volumes of passenger traffic that the MSC Group brings to Italian ports, in addition to freight, the Aponte family recently showed interest in the naval repair sector, specifically in Gioia Tauro, where the Port Authority announced that it had approved the plan for the construction of a careening basin. In a letter addressed to the Port of Gioia Tauro’s Extraordinary Commissioner Andrea Agostinelli, MSC stated “its willingness to carry out maintenance work at Gioia Tauro, also confirming its will to participate in a possible tender for the direct or indirect management through another company, of the routine maintenance activity and repairs of ships.” After Evergreen left Taranto, the name of the Geneva-based giant was mentioned in relation to that port more than once, although right now the only competitor in the running to take over the container terminal is the Ulisse Consortium, which includes Saga Italia, an entity owned by the Bollorè Group.