La Spezia Container

A GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE

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LA SPEZIA CONTAINER TERMINAL (LSCT)

to the future

La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) is a regional gateway container terminal in La Spezia, northern Italy. It has been in operation since 1971, following the founding of Contship, its parent company, two years earlier. The Contship Group is now a behemoth in maritime terminals and intermodal transport services and LSCT is a key asset. Alfredo Scalisi is CEO at the terminal. He explained his philosophy of ‘continuous improvement’ to Hannah Barnett.

LA SPEZIA CONTAINER TERMINAL (LSCT) I PROFILE

There are plenty of comings and goings at La Spezia, the first private container terminal in Italy. Offering direct connections to global markets, access to central and northern Italy, and what it calls an ‘increasingly smart option’ for southern Europe. The LSCT terminal serves railway companies that connect the port of La Spezia with the various inland terminals of the country. Among the railway companies there is also Hannibal European rail network, which is dispatched from Rail Hub Milano, both of which are Contship subsidiaries. This enables fast and seamless cargo transfer by rail or lorry.

There is no denying it is a large operation. LSCT is managed directly by about 630 people and indirectly involves over 10,000. According to CEO Alfredo Scalisi, the terminal was initially formed to meet the “growing need for maritime transport via containers destined for the vast geoeconomic areas of northern Italy and southern Europe; a type of service that was not yet available in the historic ports of the northern Tyrrhenian Sea.” Mr Scalisi went on to explain what makes La Spezia stand out from the pack is the matching of its efficiency with “reliability, availability and versatility.”

Appointed to his post as CEO two years ago, Mr Scalisi set out his vision of why the company must strive for ‘continuous improvement’: “Being the most efficient terminal is not enough. We must always gain and maintain a competitive advantage by continuously studying, adapting and testing every single process, and by starting the same procedure all over again. Continuous improvement means that the terminal can offer a level of customer service that is ever closer to the needs of those who choose to come to La Spezia.”

The mothership

Contship was started by Angelo Ravano in 1969 with fully containerised ships and the slogan “We Bring the Ship to Your Factory.” The company was born in the early days of containerisation, the shipping method in which a large amount of merchandise is packaged into large, standardised containers Offering a wide range of integrated services, Contship is now seen as something of a pioneer in Italy and across Europe. Its end-toend business model was ‘adopted by others 40 years later,’ explained Mr Scalisi. As its subsidiary company, and founded only two years later, LSCT is clearly a significant cornerstone from the early days.

Contship has since evolved into a modern organisation with a long tradition of success and is now ready to accommodate the latest generation of container carriers.

The company is not only versatile however; it keeps innovating. Mr Scalisi explained that in 2021, the Contship group launched Drive My Box, a digital all-in-one platform for container shipments in road transport. Its expressed mission is to bring the handling of containers by lorry into the digital world. “Contship once again proved

itself, as a forerunner in its field by providing a completely digital service to the market,” as Mr Scalisi put it.

As well as its numerous ports, of which La Spezia is one, Contship is present in land logistics through its subsidiary Sogemar which owns both inland terminals and transport companies for rail and lorry. With a company of this size, how does one hand know what the other is doing? “The synergy between the Group's concepts is guaranteed by the presence of two CEOs, one for each macro business area, united by a shared vision,” explained Mr Scalisi.

The Group's companies include other maritime terminals in Italy, TCR (in Ravenna) and SCT (in Salerno), and two Moroccan terminals: EGT and TAT (in Tangier). Mr Scalisi cites North Africa as a particularly active growing market. And the company’s international scope extends furthe: according to Mr Scalisi, all the main shipping companies in the world pass through La Spezia: “Connections range from the east coast of the United States to Australia via the Middle East and the coasts of North Africa. From La Spezia we can look at the entire globe.”

LA SPEZIA CONTAINER TERMINAL (LSCT) I PROFILE

Special La Spezia

Mr Scalisi recognised that the company has faced and continues to face an element of adversity, along with much of the rest of the industry. “In this post-pandemic period, and with the current international situation, the global market is volatile and definitely struggling to settle down,” he said.

But he was also confident that the recovery of LSCT is stronger than its competitors, who must rely on the government National Recovery and Resilience programme, the PNRR, that followed Covid. “Other container terminals are growing mainly thanks to the help of PNRR funds,” Mr Scalisi said, “And by implementing a supply-chain verticalisation strategy which involves help from separate shipping companies. Nowadays, in Italy there are only a few terminals that are financially independent like ours.”

The general success and dominance of the terminal has had a direct impact on the surrounding area. A significant percentage of the GDP produced in the Liguria region is generated by LSCT ‘contributing to the economy of the entire territory’ according to Mr Scalisi.

The company is also dedicated to several local schemes. ‘Among the most important’ Mr Scalisi highlighted the Porto Lab, an initiative that involves all the comprehensive schools in the area, giving the opportunity to primary school children to come into direct contact with the running of the terminal. As he put it, the benefits of the scheme allow the next generation “to live it closely, observe it, understand it. Children represent the future, and we believe that the future passes through the eyes of a child.”

Forward facing

The future may well pass through the eyes of a child, but LSCT has a ‘very challenging’ development plan that aims to reach a capacity of about 2,000,000 TEU and a rail transport capacity of 50% by the end of 2024. ‘The terminal of the near future’ will be automated, and processes digitised, with the aim of a further growth in efficiency.

Mr Scalisi is optimistic about the future, locating it in the work of the company and the people who run it, all undercu t by his ‘continuous improvement’ strategy. “Continuous improvement is not only aimed at business-related processes, but also, and above all, at our staff who represent the real asset of the terminal.” He concluded, “Through specific processes we identify and train talented people, to ensure managerial continuity as well as to comply with our founder’s motto: ‘A company is made out of people, and its success is due to them.’”