Shuttle service commences between COSCO’s European hub and Vado Gateway

terminal at Vado Ligure, known as the Vado Gateway, is the first semi-automated port in Italy with a fully automated gate and stacking yard. A joint venture with COSCO SHIPPING, the 700m deep-sea berth at Vado Gateway is capable of handling the latest Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) and up to 1.1 mln TEUs per annum. Reduced-transit time Piraeus is the Mediterranean hub of COSCO SHIPPING and Diamond Line, part of the COSCO SHIPPING Group that manages all intra-European connections. A key priority for this new connection, is the transit-time speed between the two container terminals, connecting Vado Gateway with the main lines to and from the Far and Middle East, India, Oceania and the Eastern Mediterranean. Vessels on Maersk’s Med-Middle East-India ME2 service call at Vado Gateway since February this year. Starting this month, Maersks Med-North America MMX (L75 feeder) Service will move from Genoa to Vado Ligure (Barcelona, Vado-Ligure, La Spezia, For sur Mer, Barcelona, Algeciras, Port Tangier, Barcelona). “Being able to welcome COSCO ships to Vado Gateway is a source of great satisfaction and pride for us,” commented Paolo Cornetto, CEO of APM Terminals Vado Ligure. “The launch of this new connection firms up the partnership started in recent years and marks a milestone in the growth path of our terminal and in its positioning in the Italian and international market.” “Finally, after many years, COSCO has also found its home in Italy,” comments Marco Donati – General Manager of COSCO SHIPPING Lines Italy. “And we are proud and strongly motivated to demonstrate to the market that COSCO Ports and APM Terminals will bring considerable advantages to our cluster. Moreover, the start is very promising since the ship was fully loaded both inbound and outbound.” Quick terminal access for truckers The Vado Ligure Port complex is accessible via 14 reversible gate lanes, and truck turn times at terminal are kept to a minimum using an advanced appointment system, TERMPoint, available online or via an App. The appointment system is fully integrated with Terminal Operating System.  As trucks arrive at the port, the license plate of the vehicle and the container number are registered using optical character recognition (OCR). If all previously submitted documentation is complete, the truck is automatically granted access to operating areas. Through the application, truckers can view and change the time of their appointments, check any tasks assigned, enter all the information on the container required before arrival. For those who use multiple vehicles, it’s possible to change the license plate number directly in the App, displaying the appointments corresponding to each vehicle used in real time. During the current pandemic the App also helps reduce face-to-face contact at the gate. Rail facilities A new off-dock rail facility for both port terminals (4 lanes, 450m length) provides rapid access for up to 14 trains per day, to central and northern Europe such as Switzerland, Germany and France, as well as regions in Northern Italy, such as Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. APM Terminals Vado Ligure has set itself a target of moving 40 percent of containers arriving or departing from Vado Gateway by rail. Source: APM Terminals