ITALIAN terminal operators have expressed interest building a 1.5 million TEU annual capacity facility - up from today's 425,000 TEU volume - at Roman port of Civitavecchia to replace the Roma Container Terminal (RCT) by 2017, said the port authority.
Making Rome's Civitavecchia a super box hub sparks Italian interest
ITALIAN terminal operators have expressed interest building a 1.5 million TEU annual capacity facility - up from today's 425,000 TEU volume - at Roman port of Civitavecchia to replace the Roma Container Terminal (RCT) by 2017, said the port authority.
Today, Civitavecchia handles cruise ships and ro-ro vessels and its current container volume is mainly from MSC feeders to its Mediterranean-North America West Coast California Express service.
With its 18 metres alongside and a 950-metre long linear quay, the port stands to attract the biggest ships afloat, said Ports of Rome Authority president Pasqualino Monti.
The project is part of a wider initiative to develop Civitavecchia as a major logistics hub that has the potential to become the biggest Italian port.
There has been keen interest in the project from investors: Contship Italia/Eurogate group, Italian conglomerate the Gavio Group and operator of RCT and Marinvest/MSC.
Contship Italia is keen to add the Civitavecchia to its portfolio, which includes terminal facilities at Italian ports of La Spezia, Ravenna, Geoia Tauro, Salerno and Cagliari, reports Lloyd's Loading List. Gavio operates terminals at Italian ports and owns trucking, intermodal transport and warehousing interests.