MSC and FS Italiane have agreed to form a new company specializing in intermodal transport and logistics, to design, build and operate new cargo terminals at sites controlled by the two groups in Italy.
The primary goal of the new partnership is developing intermodal sea and rail transport with greater and more effective synergies to expand the freight transport logistics network to and from Italian and European ports, according to a joint statement.
The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Geneva by Sabrina De Filippis, CEO of Mercitalia Logistics, leader of the FS Italiane Group’s Logistics Business Division, and Giuseppe Prudente, Chief Logistics Officer of MSC and President of MEDLOG, in the presence of Luigi Ferraris, CEO of the FS Group, and Gianluigi Aponte, Chairman of the MSC Group.
Sabrina De Filippis, CEO of Mercitalia Logistics, said, “The agreement is part of the initiatives envisaged in our Business Plan, providing for the strengthening of existing terminals and the creation of new technologically advanced and low environmental impact multimodal hubs. This will enable us to increase the volume of goods transported by train, thanks to the increasingly effective connection of our ports and terminals to the national network and to European railway corridors, consolidating the integration of sea-rail-road transport systems.”
The agreement provides for the establishment of a new company jointly owned by Mercitalia Logistics (51%) and MEDLOG (49%).
Giuseppe Prudente, Chief Logistics Officer of the MSC Group and President of MEDLOG, commented, “This important agreement is the result of a project that began with the ambition of creating one of the most important operators in Europe, offering customers optimized and ever more sustainable logistics solutions. In addition, reducing the use of long-distance road transport contributes not only to lowering emissions but also to greater safety and quality of life for our employees.”
The Memorandum follows another agreement signed between the two companies in September last year, which laid the foundation for an assessment of possibility and mutual interest in creating a commercial and operational partnership for the development of combined maritime transport.
The collaborative effort will enable the creation of new terminal capacity based on the development of maritime intermodal traffic, to and from Italian ports, improving the quality of services and providing a competitive alternative to road transport as well as on the Italy-Northern Europe axis.
