LIVORNO. «Frankly, I don’t understand the controversies of the last few days: we at Darsena Toscana want to work with containers, because this is the most profitable activity. In Livorno we invested one hundred million euros, no one did like us. At the moment, however, there are two problems: the crisis in the Red Sea, with the Houthis attacking ships heading towards the Suez Canal, which is causing container traffic to drop, with significant economic losses in the sector. At the same time, however, the ro-ros are doing well and the yards in Livorno are saturated, full of cars. We simply made up for the lack of these spaces, even meeting a competitor, who otherwise would have chosen another port to unload the machines. They should treat me as a savior of the country, because I ensured that the work stayed here and did not move elsewhere. I repeat: there were ships waiting outside and I did a public service to the city by letting them enter my terminal.”
Emanuele Grimaldi breaks the silence. The CEO at the head of the Campania giant of the same name – one of the main shipowners in the world and which last year recorded a profit of almost half a billion euros – speaks after the letter sent to the Port System Authority by some associations of port category, including Confindustria, who feared a risk of a loss of container traffic due to Grimaldi’s (totally denied) desire to focus on ro-ros, rolling stock and new cars in particular, after that in recent days a Norwegian ship of the Uecc company – believed to be a historic customer of Cilp, the port workers enterprise company, and which handles 40 thousand machines a year in Livorno – had been hosted in the Tdt docks.
Doctor Grimaldi, the ship you welcomed in Darsena Toscana would therefore, in all likelihood, never have arrived in Livorno?
«It would never have entered: the shipowner, who is also our main competitor in Northern Europe, was already looking for other ports to go to. I repeat: we have guaranteed a public service, moreover after having lost a lot of money in the movement of containers due to the Red Sea crisis in recent months.”
Right after the purchase of Tdt.
«Exactly and it’s certainly not nice to lose a lot of money after large investments. We, in Livorno, have invested a lot, like no one else has done. Container traffic is decreasing due to the Houthi attacks, but we are certain that it will then start again very strongly.”
Is your goal, at Darsena Toscana, to continue working with containers?
«Yes, only an ignorant person would think otherwise. Containers can be stacked on top of each other, new cars cannot. If we have invested 70 million euros in this city, it is because we have decided to focus on containers. Furthermore, we are trying to bring two big clients to Livorno, the objective is to grow”.
Furthermore, you already manage a large container terminal in Finland.
«Exactly, in Helsinki. And we are trying to bring to Livorno, as far as Mediterranean traffic is concerned, one of the customers who serves us in the Finnish capital”.
Obviously, aim to grow.
«It’s our goal. In TDT we have never sent back a container ship, this must be clear. On the contrary, like everyone else, we are paying for the Red Sea crisis, with a decline in traffic from which, however, we will recover in the future.”
So no internal competition in Livorno?
«These ships would have gone somewhere else and then, the owners, who knows if they would have returned. In any case, competition is only good. The problem is monopolies: in Livorno there cannot be a single container terminal, a single cruise terminal or a single ro-ro terminal. Competition and competition are essential and stimulate us to improve the offer, to provide the best service at the best price.”
What did you think when you read the letter signed by Confindustria and other trade associations?
«It’s a communication that bothered me a lot. I would define it as unconvincing, risky, if not a harakiri (a suicide ed). Maybe someone wants to monetize position income. I could easily develop rail traffic more, because the terminal is my property and I have the freedom to act on an entrepreneurial level, but things are not like that. It’s a letter full of lies: my interest is working with containers and in this case I made up for a lack of space in others, without stealing anyone’s work, but rather by creating new ones. I gained from it, but not only that: everyone gained from it. There is a problem of full squares, here in Livorno, and I have solved it. Theorems are written without any basis, murders are talked about without the dead person. In short, it’s not good. I certainly don’t want a medal, but I didn’t deserve this wave either…”.
The Port Authority, however, was more cautious in its meeting the following day.
«I believe that the System Authority should have taken note of this situation, of our clarity. We, I repeat, have solved a serious problem by making our yards available.”
Will you continue to invest in Livorno?
«Of course, for us it is a fundamental port, where we have invested a lot and where we will continue to do so. Excellent for Central Italy, but also for the Triveneto and the north in general, not least well connected to Sardinia and Sicily. It’s clear that it’s central and it’s very important for us.”
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