TRIESTE – First official visit took place today in Trieste by the president and CEO of DFDS, Torben Carlsen. Also, today, the Danish company announced the creation of a new logistics centre in Cologne.Therefore, the great interest in Ro-Ro traffic in the Port of Trieste (in evident recovery after the difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic), managed at the Molo V by Samer Seaports & Terminals is confirmed.
Accompanied by Enrico Samer – Samer & Co. Shipping is the general agent of DFDS for Italy – and by Lars Hoffmann, head of DFDS BU Med, the DFDS business unit that manages traffic in the Mediterranean, Carlsen met the employees of the Samer Seaports & Terminal (DFDS is the majority shareholder), the Commander of the Trieste Maritime Directorate – Coast Guard Rear Admiral Vincenzo Vitale, and visited the main development areas of the Port of Trieste.
Founded in 1866, DFDS is today the world’s leading shipowner in its sector. It has an annual global turnover of 2.3 billion euros; the company is listed on the Nasdaq in Copenhagen, with offices and port terminals in 20 countries worldwide and 8,000 employees.
In a long meeting with the president of the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea, Zeno d’Agostino, Carlsen confirmed DFDS’s interest in continuing to invest in the Port of Trieste, intending to obtain more space in the port area. «We chose Trieste – commented Carlsen – for its strategic position in the Mediterranean, for the railway infrastructure and for the advantages recognized by our customers under the Free Port regime. The Port of Trieste is today at the centre of great interest on the part of foreign investors, and this confirms the investment choices made so far by DFDS on this port of call and in wanting to develop the motorway of the sea further. Today we already need new spaces, which was the topic at the centre of today’s talks with the Port Authority».
«The visit of the top management of DFDS to Trieste – commented Enrico Samer, president of Samer & Co. Shipping – was an opportunity to strengthen further the relationship with the owner and confirms that there is great interest in Trieste. The value of all the current and expected assets of the Port of Trieste has been recognized».
Thanks to the growing demand for rail transport in combination with ferry routes and logistics services, through the partnership with primeRail, DFDS has announced the opening of a Center of Operational Excellence in Troisdorf, Cologne, in addition to the already established Center of Commercial Excellence.
About 50% of all freight volumes passing through the DFDS terminal in Trieste are already transported by rail to destinations in Europe, but – with primeRail as a contractual partner of DFDS towards rail suppliers such as railway undertakers, rail terminals and rail operators – the aim is to further improve the offer.
Operations will be up and running by 2022, the Cologne office will be expanded to become a hub for rail and intermodal services solutions. Activities for the rest of Europe will subsequently be expanded.
DFDS and primeRail already operate more than 80 trains per week. DFDS uses five corporate train lines from the Trieste hub: Cologne (12 weekly Round Trips), Bettembourg (7 Round Trips), Wels / Lambach (8 Round Trips), Ostrava (3 Round Trips), and Nuremberg (2 round Trips and return weekly).
