The Genoese who drives PSA expansion in Panama

Panama City - From 1520 until it was sacked by the pirate Henry Morgan in 1671, the port of Panama was managed by the Genoese through a concession from Spain. Today the city is one of the central nodes in shipping routes: 5 million TEU are moved across the Canal every year. The largest terminal operators in the world fight it out here, and the most difficult challenge is the launching of the PSA terminal - it has been under the leadership of the Genoan Alessandro Cassinelli, 37, father of Mattia, Emma and a third child that is on its way. Cassinelli is the General Manager of PPIT, the PSA Panama International Terminal. A Genoese and Genoan from Sampierdarena who graduated from Genoa’s Fermi Scientific High School, the son of shippers, his school was the port itself: first as a customs clearance agent, then as a shipping agent for the Cosulich family. In 2001 he went to New York as a Line Manager for MSC. Then he transferred to Houston, where he met Martina, who is also from Liguria, Camogli to be precise, who would become his wife and the mother of his second daughter. In 2005, he returned to Genoa as the commercial chief of the port of Voltri-Pra’. Last year he made another change of pace: he first travelled to Singapore for his training as a General Manager, and then onto Panama. It is a terminal with 130 employees, a 450,000 TEU capacity, and an expansion plan that began in January. Objective: 2 million TEU by the end of 2016, to conincide with the opening of the redoubled Canal. An investment of $410 million, work for over 1,000 people during the expansion phase and more than 500 people at full working capacity.

It is not an easy mission.
“The terminal was created in 2010, but only began to move container traffic in 2012. It was difficult to start up the activity: we had to convince companies to call at a terminal that is located on the opposite side of the Canal, at a distance from the rest of the port. It is only 200 metres away, but those 200 metres make a difference. We had to convince them. Now, with the motorway link ready in 18-24 months, with the design of the logistics park behind us, we are ready for full operating capacity, and to aim for expansion, for which we received final approval at the beginning of 2015, but still lacks the signature of the board of directors of the Panama Canal Authority. Many companies have shown their confidence in us: Hamburg Süd, Seaboard, and in the last few days, MSC.”

What are the terminals at the mouth of the Canal used for?
“At this moment, with the work on the Canal not yet finalised, part of the transhipment of containers is carried out not from ship to ship, but from ship to lorry. In practice, given the increase in traffic, many containers travel parallel to the Canal by land to reach the Atlantic coast.”

In terms of volumes, what is the relationship between traffic on the Canal and ground traffic?
“In this period transhipment by land is gaining much more ground than the Canal traffic.”

But soon the new Canal will be ready, so what will your role be?
“Panama is at the centre of a cross, the cardinal points are its ends. Traffic always moves on the two axes of the cross, whether by land or by sea. Panama is the point of exchange: for example, goods arrive here that are headed for the South American market from Asia on ships that continue on to the U.S. East Coast by sea. These goods are unloaded on the Pacific coast and loaded onto dedicated South America feeders.”

In a world in which one hears of 24,000 TEU ships, is the enlargement of the Canal still competitive?
“You know that the Canal is used in technical language as a parameter to define the size of ships. The ships of the largest dimensions that can pass through the waterway are called “Panamax” (with a capacity of about 5,000 TEU). Starting in 2016, ships of up to 14,000 TEU will be able to travel through the Canal. The Panamanian government is now thinking about a fourth set of locks to expand the structure even further, since it is still competitive. Of course, it is undoubtedly difficult for those who are planning public works, to keep abreast of this growth in the size of ships, which in recent years has accelerated considerably. But we must not forget that in any case the infrastructure will determine the success and the diffusion of a particular type of ship: think of the progressive adaptation of Mediterranean ports to mega-ships, and the resulting effects on the market. Personally, when I think of a 24,000 TEU container carrier, I get the chills. I mean to say, how much farther can the phenomenon of larger and larger ships go? How appropriate will it be in the next years? I believe that in this context one must always remember the lesson of the mega oil tankers of the 1970s. It looked like infinite growth, but today we have returned to the use of small and medium sized tankers”.

In your professional career you spent a long period of time in Genoa after many years abroad. Then you started travelling again. What was your impression when you plunged back into Italian life?
“The city of Genoa has given me everything. It was a splendid time, and I can assure you that I did not find the same sort of passion for work anywhere else. I am not only speaking of managers, but also of the dock workers. This is the legacy that we must take everywhere we go in the world. Wherever I have been, I have had colleagues and employees who at a certain point decided to retire to go on to another kind of work, perhaps in fields that have nothing to do with shipping: Vodafone, Carrefour... In Genoa I don’t know of even a single case like that. Those who work in the shipping industry may change jobs, but they always remain in the sector.”

What should we learn from abroad and which place where you have lived did you like best?
“The rapidity in decision making, naturally. I am thinking of Voltri and the issue with the airport approach zone. Despite the Port Authority’s absolute commitment, it was a long story, which prevented PSA from investing in new cranes for a long time. Perhaps also because they lacked a special interlocutor in Rome... besides, in Italy there is no - I shouldn’t say no Ministry of the Merchant Marine - but at least an undersecretary dedicated to our industry.”

Where would you like to return, of all the places you have been?
“Well, New York makes a strong argument. And if I were 23 years old, then I’d say that New York made more than one. But there are arguments for every place.”

And would you return to Genoa?
“Certainly. As a matter of fact, my goal is certainly to return, with all of my family, who have always travelled with me. Although I wouldn’t mind another experience abroad.”

Where would you go?
“Northern Europe. It is a bit like the United States or Singapore there, because they share the capacity to get things done quickly. They may not yet have perfection on paper, but in the meantime they work hard. There are far too many perfectionists in Italy. They think and rethink things, with the result that when they get around to doing them, they may be obsolete, they are no longer useful.”