The Vado Gateway deep-sea terminal located in Vado Ligure, Italy, has commenced operations and received its first commercial vessel, according to APM Terminals.
In a statement, APM Terminals said the M/V Maersk Kota was the first ship to call at the terminal on Maersk’s weekly ME2 service.
Port Technology International (PTI) has covered the construction of the terminal and its various milestones.
These include the arrival of the delivery of the final three ship-to-shore (STS) cranes in and its inauguration in August and December 2019 respectively.
APM Terminals said it has invested approximately $488 million (€450 million) in Vado Ligure and described it as “one of the most important port infrastructures to be built in Italy in recent decades”.
It also said the new terminal strengthens the competitiveness of the Italian port system and will connect the markets of Nothern Italy, Switzerland, Germany and North-eastern France with the Far East.
Vado Ligure will be on Maersk’s new MMX service, connecting the Mediterranean and Canada, which is scheduled for the beginning of March 2020.
There will be five ships on this route, all with a capacity of 2,500 TEU each, and they will call at Vado Ligure once a week.
Paolo Cornetto, CEO, APM Terminals Vado Ligure, had this to say:
“With the arrival of the first ship on the quay, Vado Ligure’s new deep-sea container terminal has officially commenced operations.
“After managing a number of challenges, being able to finally serve customers, is a dream for us.
“We will do everything necessary to ensure that Vado Gateway becomes synonymous with efficiency and customer service in the shortest time possible – ‘the port system most preferred by customers”.
The below video shows how Vado Ligure has developed in the past 12 years.
