TRIESTE – The Grimaldi Group’s Ro-Ro service between Trieste and Turkey, via Patras, Ambarli and Gemport, is seeing a major increase in capacity and frequency. From this week, eight weekly sailings are in operation, with around 4,000 ro-ro units available, and the company is preparing to deploy a fifth vessel to reach ten departures and more than 4,500 units per week.
This was announced by the shipping group itself, noting that the service uses Eco-class vessels, among the most modern ships in the fleet and with strong sustainability performance. The decision to add sailings responds to growing market demand for regular, high-capacity Ro-Ro connections between the Northern Adriatic and Turkey, particularly for rolling cargo and vehicles.
The Trieste–Patras–Ambarli–Gemport rotation is part of the owner’s broader development of its “Motorways of the Sea”, which began with the direct Trieste–Ambarli link, then expanded with an intermediate call at Patras and finally to the Turkish port of Gemlik (Gemport). This enables connections not only between Italy and Turkey but also with Central Europe via maritime networks and intermodal rail services, with frequent transits for Northern Italy and the South of the peninsula, including transhipment options for ports such as Venice.
In the Port of Trieste, the vessels call at the Logistics Platform operated by HHLA PLT Italy, a key node for this traffic. Here, gate and parking operations for rolling cargo are organised before loading or after discharge, alongside infrastructure investments to handle the service’s growing volumes. In recent months, terminal operations have been reorganised to accommodate the additional vessels and improve flows of trucks and semi-trailers.
The expansion also reflects active logistics competition in Trieste: alongside Grimaldi’s ramp-up, operators such as DFDS continue to run links with Turkey, in a market where dynamics and tariffs are evolving.
