APM Terminals Vado aims to be new gateway to central Europe’s 70 million consumer market

Designed for customers needing southern Europe gateway to improve supply chains; gain access to major liner networks using deep-water ports.

The Hague, Netherlands - 1 November 2017

APM Terminals Vado, Italy Managing Director Paolo Cornetto addressed the 5th MedPorts 2017 conference in Barcelona, Spain on the subject of “International Logistics and Supply Chain: What Role Could Mediterranean Ports Play for an Integrated Strategy, Successful Outcome?” by highlighting the future role of the deepwater APM Terminals Vado facility, now under construction, as a new southern gateway to Central Europe.


Image by APM Terminals

“We designed our new port around liner customers - and our landside customers – the importers, exporters and truckers - to help them do more business by tapping into the 70 million-member consumer market of northern Italy, southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria and eastern France within an eight hour proximity of our port. We will offer a fully-automated gate complex – the first of any Italian port - to get truckers in and out faster and safer. We will offer a natural deepwater port with 16 meter depth to ensure the largest Asia/Europe strings call easily with a modest deviation in their sailing route. And, we are working with rail providers for seamless connections to inland markets to create a new game-changing supply chain that reaches central Europe efficiently,” commented Paolo Cornetto. The opening of the new Gotthard pass rail tunnel will enable fast and environmentally-sustainable intermodal rail service to interior European points, with faster transit times from the Far East than conventional supply chain service through northern European ports. The facility is targetting a 40% intermodal rail split for cargo moving through the port.

APM Terminals Vado will also be the first container terminal in Italy to handle the new generation of containerships’ needs for water depth, crane reach and height, and quay wall weight requirements - integrated with an automated, safe container yard and trucker gate system. These benefits combined with no air draft restrictions create a new fully equipped port and inland system to better serve supply chains of the future.

APM Terminals Vado is the first major new container facility built in Italy in decades. The facility opens in 2019 and already features a fresh fruit logistics center with an onsite refrigerated warehouse - the largest in the Mediterranean market conveniently located in the port area. In August 2015, APM Terminals acquired the Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal as part of the port master plan to create new reefer supply chains for markets in northern Italy, southern France, Switzerland and Germany. In 2016, APM Terminals signed a joint venture with COSCO Shipping Ports and Qingdao Port International Development for the Vado container terminal operation.

APM Terminals press release