LSCT welcomes the largest Ship of UASC

La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) welcomed the on-time arrival of the largest ship ever deployed by United Arab Shipping Company S.A.G. in its Asia – Med trade network.

The new A-15 class 15,000 TEU ship, Al Dhail, berthed at Fornelli East for the first time as part of its maiden voyage calling at Mediterranean ports.

The Al Dhail is one of many ULCCs deployed in four weekly Asia-Med strings calling at La Spezia, with the port accustomed to handling a growing number of calls by increasingly large ships. Forecasts suggest that 200 calls will be performed by ships of 10,000+ TEU in 2016.

The Al Dhail, in arriving fully laden in La Spezia and requiring some 3,000 contractual moves, successfully tested LSCT’s infrastructure in terms of water depth and ULCC handling and the totality of the La Spezia System itself. The record volume to be discharged in a single bottom emphasised the capability of La Spezia System to reach end users in locations generating more than 40 % of Italian GDP.

“As a system, La Spezia has invested hundreds of millions of Euros to improve infrastructure capable of serving increasingly larger ship sizes. The import cargo on the Al Dhail, with thousands of indivdual containers, is one of the highest ever discharged at our terminal, confirming that La Spezia is ideally located to efficiently serve multiple markets here in Italy and into Southern Europe,” said Michele Giromini, Managing Director of LSCT.

“Supply chains using La Spezia take advantage of unrivaled rail connectivity with 14 trains alone departing from LSCT between Saturday and Sunday to major destinations in Northern and Central Italy, enabling Monday morning final truck-mile delivery to the end user. It is the combination of service provided and the advantageous geographical position of La Spezia which global supply chains acknowledge, with 42 weekly port call combinations from Asia,” he added.