RoPax10

INTERVIEW / 25
Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona, and
they have been back to service as from the
beginning of July. This has allowed us to
further increase the volume of freight and
passengers transported on said route.
Both vessels have also been equipped with
mega batteries, which allow them not to
burn gasoil while at berth.
In Sardinia, our cargo market share grew
in one year from 35% to 57% and the number
of passengers increased by 120.000 in
one year.
The Western Mediterranean is expected to
benefit, this year, of the arrival of the first
GG5G-class ro/ro vessels, currently being
built in China. Equipped with scrubbers
and mega lithium batteries with a 5MWh
energy storage system, each vessel will
have a capacity of about 500 trucks/ trailers.
RoPax: Do you see a upcoming increase
for the Greek trade and market? The economic
forecasts for Greece predict growth
of 2-2.8% in 2020 many companies will
invest!
Emanuele Grimaldi: The recovery of the
Greek economy is a fact and is especially
driven by tourism, which has become the
main source of revenue for the country.
Considering the good prospects of the
Greek economy, we have decided to deploy
a vessel, the Venezia, which will be dedicated
to the Venice-Igoumenitsa-Patras
route, leaving the Cruise Europa and
Cruise Olympia on the Ancona-Igoumenitsa-Patras
service. The vessel is due to
be deployed in April.
On the other hand, the chronic problem in
Greece is the overcapacity offered in the
domestic cabotage, like for example on the
Piraeus-Crete route. This needs to be
seriously addressed if all operators wish to
run their business profitably.
From our side, our sister company Minoan
Lines has been the first Greek company
to invest in exhaust gas cleaning systems,
well ahead the introduction of the 0.5%
low sulphur limit on a world scale. Today
the company is debt-free, has the important
liquidities as well as property buildings
and tangible assets to face the future
confidently and it remains ready to seize
any opportunities that may arise in the
Greek ferry market.
RoPax: How was the development of your
deep sea services?
Lübecker Hafenrundschau
Emanuele Grimaldi: In the deep-sea market
we had relatively stable results compared
to 2018. Some markets performed
well while others, such as Argentina, are
going through a period of crisis which has
an impact on the volumes transported.
On this trade we have strengthened our
presence with an increase of frequency on
the Mediterranean-West Africa and on the
North America-West Africa routes. On the
latter we now have also a dedicated car
carrier service. We have also started the
expansion of our terminal in Lagos in
order to accommodate new freight flows.
“In Sardinia, our cargo
market share grew in
one year from 35% to
57% and the number of
passengers increased by
120.000 in one year.”
Despite the high volatility and uncertainty
of US bound international trade, on the
North Atlantic the lines, ACL managed to
reduce its losses considerably and to break
LÜBECK
BÜNDELUNGSPUNKT
DER OSTSEE
JPE
Grimaldi
even. ACL management is confident that
the positive situation will continue and the
company will be back in the black in 2020.
RoPax: Congratulation for the Lloyd’s
Award “EXCELLENCE IN DECARBONI­
SATION TOWARDS 2050”!!! Last year we
spoke about your concepts “Zero Emission
In Port” and also about the idea to clean
the sea by your scrubbers by collecting the
Die Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft ist Deutschlands größte RoRo-
Hafenbetreiberin an der Ostsee. Wir bieten Ihnen:
• Hochfrequente Verbindungen ins Baltikum, nach
Skandinavien, Finnland und Russland
• Herausragende intermodale Hinterlandanbindungen
nach Mittel- und Südwesteuropa
• Logistische Komplettlösungen aus einer Hand –
gemeinsam mit unseren Tochter unternehmen
www.lhg.com
Lübeck
Shaping Baltic Shipments
RoPax 10 / 03.2020
AZ_LHG_RoPax_117x126_print.indd 1 08.05.19 11:39