Contship Eyes Opportunities in Asia

Italy’s La Spezia Container Terminal, owned by Contship Italia Group, is to visit Ningbo and Qindao in China and Seoul in South Korea to introduce the alternative route and options for Asia-Italy and South Europe cargo.

The visit follows a tour of key supply chain hubs by the operator in Greater China and Singapore last year.

Previously, the company engaged with Asia’s shippers and pipeline seniors presenting its intermodal connections for turnaround and onward movement of cargo into Italy and beyond. Now, its is shifting the focus on other areas of cargo concentration.

“We emerged from last year’s successful tour, which took in Singapore, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Shanghai, with a deeper understanding of the needs and requirements of the supply chain in those areas, and we will add new material and raise new questions with participants,” Michael Cashman, Commercial Director of Contship Italia Group Maritime Terminals said.

The company says that a report by Drewry last month confirmed that La Spezia Homeport provided the best average transit times for maritime cargo on the Shanghai-Mediterranean route, with 27 days for 2M, O3 and CKYHE alliances.

The scheduled arrival of the boxship Hanjin Buddha on 8 May is to provide a further impetus with an improved transit time of just 25 days from Shanghai to Italian markets, according to the company.