- Following a public tender launched by the Italian transport ministry earlier this year, Grimaldi Euromed, company controlled by Grimaldi Group, emerged as the only bidder and so is very likely to prolong the subsidised maritime link on the route Civitavecchia – Arbatax – Cagliari.
- Deadline for submitting offers was 5 May 2023 and binding price stood at EUR 42.4 million.
- Grimaldi offered EUR 26.9 million for the next cycle of maritime continuity between the Italian mainland and Sardinia set to last three years.
- The ro-pax vessel to be deployed on the line will be most likely the ferry CORFU.
On 21 March 2023, the joint venture established by the companies Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A., Minoan Lines S.A. and Investment Construction Commercial And Industrial S.A. (EKEV SA) signed an agreement with the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF, the fund which manages the program of privatization of ports and other public assets in Greece and a member of GROWTHFUND – The National Fund of Greece) which provides for the purchase of a majority stake of 67% of the share capital of the Igoumenitsa Port Authority (IPA S.A.) for a total price of EUR 84.17 million.
The signature of the share purchase agreement takes place after the approval of the Court of Auditors, while the ratification of the concession agreement between the Greek State and IPA S.A. by the Greek Parliament is imminent.
The signing ceremony that took place at HRADF’s premises was attended, among others, by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Ioannis Plakiotakis, the Secretary General of Ports Port Policy and Maritime Investments, Evangelos Kyriazopoulos, the CEO of HRADF, Dimitris Politis, the President and Managing Director of Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A., Emanuele Grimaldi, the CEO of GROWTHFUND – The National Fund of Greece, Grigoris D. Dimitriadis, the Corporate Short Sea Commercial Director of the Grimaldi Group, Guido Grimaldi, the CEO of Minoan Lines, Loukas Sigalas, The Chairman and Managing Director of EKEV S.A., Athanasios Koulouris, the President and Managing Director of the Igoumenitsa Port Holding Company S.A., Paul Kyprianou, the CEO of IPA S.A., Athanasios Porfyris, the Member of Parliament for Thesprotia, Vasileios Giogiakas, the Mayor of Igoumenitsa, Ioannis Lolos and the Mayor of Filiates, Spyridon Pappas.
Speaking at the Let Expo exhibition held in Verona, the Commercial Director of Grimaldi Euromed, Guido Grimaldi, announced that a fourth ro-ro ship has been deployed by the company on the maritime link offered between North Adriatic, Southern Italy and Greece.
More specifically, the ports of Venice, Bari and Patras are now linked with four ferries, offering six sailings per week. Each ro-ro unit has a capacity to transport up to 250 trailers each.
A second ship on this line had been deployed by Grimaldi in 2016 and the third in 2021. Now it’s time for the fourth vessel.
Photo: Grimaldi Lines
The port of Ravenna, in Italy, is to become one of the most important hubs for Grimaldi Group’s network in the Adriatic Sea.
The Naples-based shipping company is in advanced negotiations with the local port authority for setting up a new port terminal in Ravenna which is regularly called by Grimaldi’s ro-ro ship on the motorways of the seas to and from the other Italian ports of Brindisi and Catania.
Up to date the ro-ro traffic was and still is handled by a company called T. & C. – Traghetti e Crociere S.R.L and fully owned by the port authority but this company will stop acting as a terminal operator as soon as Grimaldi will be ready to operate with its in-house branch.
Last year the port of Ravenna’s total throughput of trailer handled was 80,595 (+6.4% compared with 2021) or 1,818,670 in terms of tons (+25.7%).
The Group now owns an area of over 200,000 m2 and a twenty-year concession within the Dutch port
Through its subsidiary Amsterdam Multipurpose Terminal (AMT), the Grimaldi Group has recently gained strategic assets and a 20-year concession within the port of Amsterdam.
The assets that AMT bought from the company EMA are located in the Amerikahaven area and cover a surface of over 200,000 m2, including storage areas, adjacent warehouses and logistics areas, as well as two quays – the first, which is about 500 meters long, dedicated to ships deployed on deep sea routes, and the second, about 300 meters long, for the berthing of vessels serving short sea links.
Not only is Amsterdam an extremely important port for cocoa exports from West Africa to Europe: the Grimaldi Group aims to make the most of its strategic location, transforming it into the gateway for imports of new vehicles, as well as for their distribution in Northern Europe.
Map: BoH – Eigen werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12452593
A statement from Moby published on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange [Bourse.lu] announced that competitor Grimaldi Euromed filed an opposition in the Court of Appeal to the approval of the Moby creditor’s composition plan “with an action once again aimed at preventing the continuation of the composition plan approved with the positive vote expressed by approx. 90% of Moby creditors and homologated by the Court of Milan on November 24, 2022.”
This new action is being brought by Grimaldi “despite the fact that the Court of Milan has
rejected in its entirety the previous opposition to the homologation, even declaring it unfounded, condemning Grimaldi to pay the judicial costs,” Moby stated.
The next hearing in front of the Court of Appel will be held on 2 March 2023.
The Vincenzo Onorato – controlled company concluded by saying: “Against this further legal action brought by Grimaldi, already rejected in the first instance, the Company is evaluating in appropriate legal venues any legal action aimed at defending its restructuring plan and the work of its employees.”
From 17 October the Group will boost its presence in Sicily and in the Neapolitan port, with a new three-weekly service for the transport of passengers and freight.
Ropax will be CRUISE AUSONIA.
This will be in competition with GNV and Tirrenia.
At the occasion of the XXV Euromed Convention held in Sorrento, small village not far from Naples, where Gianluigi Aponte (MSC) was born, the Grimaldi Group made some interesting announcements.
2 more GG5Gs
CEO Emanuele Grimaldi revealed that a new order for further two GG5G roro ships has been signed with Jinling shipyard, taking the total number of ships of this project to 14.
The next two will cost roughly $100m each, some 30% more than the first 12 ordered in 2018 for $66m per unit.
10 more PCTCs
Grimaldi also confirmed that before the end of the current month, another order for 10 Pure Car Truck Carriers will be signed with a shipyard part of the China Merchants group for a contract worth $1billion and with delivery expected from 2025 onwards.
Far East
After having consolidated its market position in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, North and West Africa and the east Coast of America, Grimaldi Group started covering the Far East to Europe route with car carriers following the demand and strong interest coming from various car manufacturers. At least 7 ships will be deployed on the new line calling the ports of Busan (South Korea), Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou (China), Chiba (Giappone), Port Kembla and Brisbane (Australia), Dammam and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), connected with Gioia Tauro in Italy and Antwerp in Belgium.
Roro > Ropax
As for the local ferry market in Italy Emanuele Grimaldi anticipated the intention to extend to the passenger transport the lines currently operated only for roro freight traffic between the ports of Naples, Palermo and Cagliari.
Attica-Anek Lines agreement
“Wait and see” said CEO Emanuele Grimaldi. He does not consider the agreement finished since the decision of the Competition Commission is pending.
Buying Attica?
To the question about whether he would be interested in buying Attica Group, sometime in the future, he said that “We have not heard of Attica being sold. In any case, for there to be a buyer, there must also be someone to sell.”
However, in such a hypothetical deal, he hinted that there would be an issue with the Competition Commission and the anti-trust law.
Greek ports
About the ports of Igoumenitsa and Heraklion that Grimaldi Group is interested in, he mentioned: “Many people think we play aggressively. But the reality is that we play defence. Because in both ports, Grimaldi Group is the big customer. Some 60% of the port of Igoumenitsa’s revenue comes from us.
So, what we are trying to do by participating in both tenders for the ports of Igoumenitsa and Heraklion, is to protect our investments.
Unlike to other financial investors, the Grimaldi Group does not seek profit nor does it intend to increase fares. I am the biggest user of these ports and want to see them grow and improve their services.”
Especially in Igoumenitsa his plans include the development of trade roads around the axis of Egnatia motorway, while at the port of Heraklion he underlined that Minoan Lines has significant presence.
- Grimaldi Group controlled company Trasmed Gle started a new Motorway of the Seas between Spain and Italy, more specifically linking the ports of Sagunto, Palma de Mallorca and Salerno.
- The vessels deployed are the new 7,800 lane metre ECO MEDITERRANEA and ECO ADRIATICA.
- Frequency: twice weekly.