Grimaldi: “We will invest 3 billion in the ships of the future”
Work has begun on the project for new multi-purpose units and other facilities for containers and rolling stock. The contract with China Merchants is expected to be signed by the end of the year
“2025 was a very positive year. Although we did not reach the exceptional record levels of some previous years, our results remained solid, particularly given the challenging circumstances in which they were achieved.” This was stated by Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of the shipping group of the same name, as he opened the 27th Euromed Convention From Land to Sea, in Sardinia, at the Forte Village in Pula.
However, the shipowner has announced further investments in the fleet totalling around 3 billion: ‘Two separate projects are already at an advanced stage,’ he said, ‘a new generation of ro-ro vessels (for the transport of containers and roll-on/roll-off cargo, ed.) and a new generation of multipurpose vessels (ed.). Our research and development department is already working on the most innovative solutions, with a clear objective: to make these ships the most flexible and technologically advanced in the world within their respective segments.”
The investment in these vessels, he pointed out, “could amount to around 3 billion euros, including options”. And the contracts for these orders could be signed “probably even by the end of the year”. Mr Miao Jianmin, chairman of the China Merchants Group – which controls the world’s largest shipyard – came to Naples; we had lunch together and spoke at length, both about the ferries we are currently building and the new ships we are due to build. We are at a very advanced stage.”
Grimaldi emphasised that, despite “growing geopolitical tensions and the threat of ever-widening trade barriers”, he added, “today more than 30 ships are operating within our Asian network. We have consolidated our routes from Asia to Europe and Africa, whilst launching new direct services from Asia to Latin America, from Asia to Oceania and from China to the Philippines. We have strengthened our presence in the Asian region, particularly in India and Japan, supporting the global development of the Grimaldi Group’s network.’
The shipowner then recalled that two years ago, ‘at our previous convention in Athens, I announced that we were considering an order for a further nine ro-pax vessels (roll-on/roll-off and passenger, ed. ). Today, that plan has become one of the largest orders in our group’s history: an investment of around 1.5 billion dollars. Six ships will operate in the Mediterranean under the Grimaldi Lines and Minoan Lines brands, and three will join Finnlines in the Baltic, with deliveries scheduled between 2028 and 2030’. These vessels will ‘reduce CO₂ emissions, per unit of cargo, by over 50 per cent compared with the vessels they will replace’.
