Hannibal and IMS RAIL Switzerland welcomes SSC members at the rail hub of Melzo
Milan, 17. October 2013
Over 50 managers representing the most important Swiss freight forwarders and cargo owners joined the event organized by the SSC and the rail operators IMS RAIL Switzerland / Hannibal S.p.A (Contship Italia Group) in Melzo today. IMS and Hannibal are offering since May 2013 reliable rail connections between the Ligurian ports and Frenkendorf (near Basel/Switzerland) via Melzo, being committed to offer Swiss importers and exporters new effective logistics solutions for their global supply chain.
“The DRY PORT of Melzo/Milan is a perfect gateway to/from the Southern European ports for Swiss importers and exporters” - said Bernhard Metzger, Vice President of SSC and head of Transport and Logistics of Migros, Switzerland’s leading retailer. “I want to say thank you to Contship and IMS for their support. They realized what was promised one year ago and they continue to be committed to solving any future requirements of ours”.
Sebastiano Grasso, Vice President Intermodal & Logistics of Contship Italia Group and Hannibal’s managing Director, said opening the session: “Melzo has been developed in order to offer reliable connections between the Italian Ports and richest Economic European areas. We will continue and further improve the logistics options for Swiss shippers that definitely can trust on a reliable business partner in Italy”.
The presentation was also attended by Marco Simonetti, Vice President Maritime Terminals Contship who showed the delegates the latest news on the Group’s Terminals. "Today in La Spezia we are handling over 37% of import and export throughputs by rail. Our shareholders are committed to further develop our target in order to achieve a quota of 50% via rail".
Wolfgang Tomassovich, CEO of IMS RAIL, introduced details of today’s rail services and a picture of La Spezia and Genoa ports advantages through the available sea connections encompassing continents served by top global shipping lines. “This is the second time we are joining such an interesting visit in Melzo and we are proud to show our reliable network of services which make Swiss dreams of a better Southern European Ports use come true”.
Many questions and comments raised during the session, especially related to customs clearance needs in Italy, pre-clearing options and the new through Bill of Lading (DAT Melzo = Delivery At Terminal) which gives Swiss shippers the chance of an even faster transit time between the Ligurian Ports and Swiss origins/destinations, providing customs clearance services in Melzo DRY PORT.
The delegation also took the opportunity of a terminal visit, where important developments will take place by the end of 2014, when four internal rail tracks will be available, each of 750 meters of length.
Swiss Shippers’ Council SSC is the Swiss Multimodal Transport users organization and the only neutral freight transport organization which operates on a broad scale, encompassing the interests of Swiss industry, trade and consumers.
HANNIBAL Spa is a Contship Italia Group subsidiary providing intermodal links over the Alps. Hannibal connects the main Italian ports to central and North European industrial areas providing pure rail transport as well as intermodal solutions.
IMS Rail Switzerland AG was founded in 2011 as a subsidiary of IMS Group and it is focused on the organization of complete trains-block and in the management of gateways connected for maritime traffic.