TRIESTE – Egypt’s Ministry of Transport announced today that it has decided to launch a new Ro-Ro connection between the port of Trieste and the port of Damietta.
The Damietta Port Authority said in advance that this is a service dedicated to refrigerated and conventional cargo between Europe and the Gulf countries, using the maritime route already opened and operated by DFDS, which in Trieste runs one of the Ro-Ro terminals (through Samer Seaports) between Trieste and the Egyptian port. The service is operated by Pan Marine, DFDS’s local agent, with the Ro-Ro vessel Gallipoli Seaways, currently sailing towards Damietta.
Cargo arriving from Italy will reach Damietta and then be transferred to the port of Safaga. This is a port located on the western coast of the Red Sea, 60 km south of Hurghada and 225 nautical miles south of the port of Suez.
From there, the goods will continue on to Gulf markets. Transit shipments will be exempt from the requirement to register in the ACI (Advance Cargo Information) system, a measure that reduces administrative lead times and speeds up operations.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Transport, the project was made possible by coordination between the port authority, customs and logistics operators, with the aim of streamlining procedures, reducing customs clearance times and improving the overall efficiency of the logistics chain.
The Ro-Ro connection between Trieste and Damietta was launched in November 2024 and comes against the backdrop of the current difficulties affecting some regional routes, offering an operational alternative for traffic between Europe and the Middle East.
