Contship Italia, the operator of La Spezia, Genoa and Ravenna ports and rail services to Central and North Europe has sent an open letter to Italian and European institutions extolling the virtues of intermodal transport in the era of the Coronavirus.
Posted on 11 March the letter points to the interconnectivity of companies within Europe and the real risk to the European economy if the breakdown of the supply chain is allowed to prevent the movement of goods.
“Rail transport, both intermodal and conventional, plays a strategic role, as it moves large quantities of goods over long distances, with fixed and monitorable routes, and with a limited use of staff that can be easily controlled from a health point of view,” said the Contship letter.
On the same day that Contship posted its letter the Italian authorities stopped all commercial activities except those where goods and passengers are transported. As a result of the latest decree that effectively puts most of the Italian population in lock down Contship has warned that goods must be kept moving and that with the limits on trucks crossing borders from Italy to among other countries Germany, Switzerland and Austria rail is an effective method for moving cargo.
Contship’s marketing and communications director Daniele Testi told Container News, “All our ports are up and running and we are operating rail and truck services from the ports.”
Testi said that the company had a strategic committee that has met every 48 hours since 24 February to help cope with difficulties and constraints caused by the outbreak, but apart from truck queues at the ports the system is operating well.
“We have had four void sailings at La Spezia a week but we still have three services arriving every week too from the alliances, but with decreased volumes for each call, though it is very difficult to calculate the exact impact,” added Testi.
He went on to say that China is recovering from the virus outbreak at a rapid rate and while volumes have declined at Contship Italia ports, such as Genoa, La Spezia and Ravenna by around 15-20% it is important to keep the system running because as China ramps up its output volumes will increase again.
Rail has great potential and has an opportunity in this situation to offer long haul container volumes across borders from Italy to Central and Northern Europe, shifting cargo from road to rail.
Rail services are already in place trains operating to Contship’s hub in Milan can then be distributed to Zurich, Basel, southern Germany and Austria with three trains per day out of La Spezia, two daily from Genoa and two every week out of Ravenna to Milan.
The trains themselves can load up to 1,200tonnes or up to 66TEU depending on the weight, but when the Gotthard Tunnel opens later this year, the trains can offer 2,000tonnes in weight and 750m trains, partly because the tunnel is low altitude and there is no need for two locomotives, explained Testi.
“The lesson of the virus is that it is important for shippers to have alternatives for their supply chains, so that they can keep cargo moving, last year we shipped 20,000TEU from Genoa and La Spezia, with some shippers splitting their volumes between north and southern European gateways,” said Testi.
He went on to say “I am proud of what is happening in Itlay, we will exit from the crisis stronger with better communications within the supply chain.”
Nick Savvides
Managing Editor
