Naples-headquartered Grimaldi Group plans to order by the end of 2024 nine new ro-pax ships for the transportation of goods and passengers in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea.
Emanuele Grimaldi, head of the Italian shipping giant, unveiled the Group’s investment plan, which focuses on acquiring new vessels to further reduce the average age of its fleet.
Speaking at the XXVI Euromed Convention From Land to Sea, the international summit organized by the Grimaldi Group in Athens, which took place from October 10 to 13, Grimaldi highlighted that seven new vessels have been delivered over the past two years, with 20 additional ships under construction.
Among these are seventeen 9,000 CEU pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs), specifically designed to carry both electric and conventional vehicles, as well as other types of rolling cargo.
All the new PCTCs will be certified with the “Ammonia Ready” class notation conferred by the Italian Shipping Register, RINA, allowing them to utilize ammonia in the future.
“We are at a crucial juncture for the future of shipping and logistics. We are engaging with a number of global issues such as geopolitical tensions, the increased cost of money, inflation and a new form di protectionism, with the proliferation of unilateral trade barriers,” said Emanuele Grimaldi.
“Our Group has pursued a deliberate strategy whereby we strive to be an active protagonist of our times, interpreting and growing with the economic megatrends, while championing environmental sustainability.”
In his opening speech at the summit, Grimaldi’s managing director Emanuele Grimaldi presented a wide-ranging account of the main events of the last two years regarding Italy’s largest shipping group.
He underlined the investments made since 2022, not only in fleet expansion but also in terms of integrated logistics.
The Grimaldi Group has also invested substantially in the acquisition of port terminals and the creation of new shipping agencies.
Earlier this year, the Group completed its acquisition of 100% of the Terminal Darsena Toscana in Livorno and a majority interest in the port of Heraklion, the most important in Crete.
In 2022 and 2023, similar operations were carried out in the port of Igoumenitsa and at the Amsterdam multipurpose terminal, where Grimaldi has a concession.
Three new shipping agencies have been set up in the ports of Brindisi, Amsterdam and Shanghai.
The Group has also acquired control of the Niels Winter Agency in Denmark and increased its stakes in the Grimaldi France, Grimaldi Maroc and Grimaldi Cote d’Ivoire agencies.
“Our results speak for themselves: today our 140-strong fleet sails all over the world, our maritime services being perfectly integrated with those provided by our wholly owned terminals as part of a perfect logistics supply chain,” Grimaldi concluded.
