FS Group and MSC Sign MoU to Develop Logistics Synergies
Intermodality, with stronger synergies between sea and rail transport, for a more reliable and sustainable logistics chain. This is the core goal of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Geneva by the FS Group, represented by CEO Luigi Ferraris and Mercitalia Logistics CEO Gianpiero Strisciuglio, and the MSC Group, represented by Group Chairman Gianluigi Aponte and Chief Logistics Officer of MSC and President of MEDLOG Giuseppe Prudente.
The initial goal of the MoU will be to assess the opportunity and mutual interest in implementing a commercial and operational collaboration project to build an integrated maritime business.
FS's Polo Logistica companies, beginning with group leader Mercitalia Logistic, and MSC Group companies, including MEDWAY and MEDLOG, which deal in rail and road transport, intermodality, and logistics, will be in charge of implementing the Memorandum and making it effective through additional specific agreements.
This operational cooperation has already experimented and taken its first steps forward in recent weeks, for example, with the establishment of a partnership at the Gioia Tauro port terminal on shunting services and rail transit between Gioia Tauro and Interporto Padova.
More specifically, the main areas in which synergies between the FS Group and the MSC Group companies will be assessed and may be developed are terminal management, either backport areas and in-land ports, national and European and management of the network of trains and intermodal railway services, which could also benefit from the sharing of specific assets, such as locomotives and waggons, for the benefit of greater flexibility and quality, again operating in both the national and European markets, which is now considered the new domestic market. A further area where possible partnerships will be explored is that of tenders.
Luigi Ferraris, CEO of the FS Group, said:
"The signing of this MoU with a Group of such great international relevance as MSC strengthens the Polo della Logistica’s strategy as a system operator and consolidates its presence along the logistics chain, placing rail transport at the centre of the development, over distances of more than 300/400 km. It is, in fact, an objective of our Industrial Plan” - Ferraris concludes – “to double the current share of goods transported by rail within a decade, also thanks to increasingly effective connections of our ports and terminals to the national network and European rail corridors."
Giuseppe Prudente, Chief Logistics Officer at MSC and President of MEDLOG, said:
"This partnership fits into the framework of a long-standing collaboration between the MSC Group and the FS Group. Our group, through MEDLOG and MEDWAY, has a strong presence in Italy and Europe. The partnership with the FS Group plays a crucial role in the development of our business, both for port and in-land terminals and for testing new gateways. In this view – Prudente stresses – rail transport is a modal shift, it represents a new example for the development of freight transport in Italy, for smarter and more sustainable logistics both for the environment and for workers.”
Source: MSC
