Positive first quarter of 2024 for traffic recorded in the two ports of the Eastern Ligurian Sea Port System Authority. La Spezia and Marina di Carrara handled a total of 5,560,499 tonnes of goods, with excellent performances in ‘general cargo’, ‘roro’ and ‘break bulk’. “The port of La Spezia continues, in the first four months of 2024, the trend of strong recovery of credibility on international markets, which began in the second half of 2023, after the decline that characterized the first part of last year”, comments the president of ‘Asdp Mario Sommariva.
“Despite the serious geopolitical turbulence that is marking the transoceanic traffic scenario, the port of La Spezia is demonstrating great capacity for reaction and the possibility of playing a key role in the reorganization of the maritime lines. The efficiency of the intermodal system, with a 35% railway share, appears, once again, to be the winning card with which Spezia can continue to consolidate its traffic and attract new lines. Consolidation in intra-Mediterranean traffic also appears fundamental. The network of connections based in La Spezia is able to intercept the phenomena of new localization of the manufacturing sector, as a result of international changes, as well as being a privileged partner of the North African countries, increasingly dynamic and protagonists of Mediterranean maritime traffic.
In particular, the port of La Spezia recorded growth of +10.8% in general cargo, which amounted to 3,526,932 tonnes of goods, driven by container traffic, which in turn increased by +7.4%, moving around 380,000 teu. The result recorded in the first four months of 2024 by intermodal traffic was important, recording an increase of +3.1% compared to the first four months of 2023, involving 2,353 trains that moved 955 thousand tons (+5.1%) of containerized goods. Cruise traffic also confirms a growth trend, with the transit of 100,575 cruise passengers, +2.4% compared to the same four-month period of 2023. However, commercial bulk traffic is decreasing, with 520,893 tonnes of liquid bulk cargo (-41.6%) and 3,501 tons of solid ones.
