The Eco Salerno presented in Catania

With a brief ceremony held at the Port of Catania on 25 February, the local port community officially welcomed the Eco Salerno, a brand-new vessel delivered to the Grimaldi Group at the end of 2024. As of the same month, this hybrid ro-ro vessel, operating alongside the Eurocargo Roma, has strengthened the regular Catania-Brindisi-Ravenna shipping route dedicated to the transport of rolling cargo.

The ceremony opened with speeches from Attilio Montalto, Secretary General of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Sicilian Sea; Rear Admiral Antonio Ranieri, Commander of the Catania Maritime Directorate; and Eugenio Grimaldi, Executive Manager of the Grimaldi Group. The event was also attended by other representatives from Catania’s port community, as well as major Sicilian customers of the Neapolitan shipping company.

The Eco Salerno is the 13^th of 14 hybrid vessels belonging to the innovative GG5G (Grimaldi Green 5^th Generation) class, built at the Jinling shipyards in Nanjing, China. They are the largest and most eco-friendly short-sea ro-ro vessels in the world. With a cargo capacity of 7,800 linear metres (over 500 trailers), these green giants can halve CO₂ emissions compared to the previous series of ro-ro ships operated by the Grimaldi Group – and even cut them to zero while docked. During port stays, the GG5G class relies on electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total power output of 5MWh, which recharge at sea thanks to shaft generators and 350m² of solar panels. Additionally, these vessels feature state-of-the-art, electronically controlled engines and exhaust gas cleaning systems to reduce sulphur and particulate emissions.

“The reduced environmental impact of these vessels greatly benefits port communities like that of Catania, which has welcomed us for almost 20 years,” said Eugenio Grimaldi, the Group’s Head of the Sicilian Market.

He then traced the key milestones of Grimaldi’s presence in the Sicilian port. "It all began in February 2006 with the Genoa-Catania-Malta freight route. Since then, we’ve grown in this region together with and thanks to our customers, as well as to the dedication of port, terminal and maritime operators. Today, we offer direct ro-ro services that connect Catania to Salerno, Ravenna, Livorno and Brindisi frequently and efficiently. Furthermore, thanks to the transshipment opportunities provided by our Motorways of the Sea, we support regular traffic flows between this port and Spain, Greece and other countries. And that’s not all: our global network allows us to connect Catania to major ports worldwide.”

Currently, seven Grimaldi Group vessels call at the Port of Catania regularly; two of these belong to the GG5G class – the Eco Salerno and a sister ship Eco Barcelona.

“Choosing Grimaldi Group’s Motorways of the Sea over road transport helps reduce CO₂ emissions by hundreds of thousands of tonnes each year,” Eugenio Grimaldi emphasized. “Looking specifically at the Catania-Brindisi-Ravenna route, with next-generation ships like the Eco Salerno, we can cut freight transport’s environmental impact by 40%.”

In addition to providing high-quality transport services, the Grimaldi Group’s presence in Catania also includes local investments, such as its stake in local companies like Grimaldi Marangolo Terminal, which manages port operations in Catania, and the Grimaldi Catania maritime agency.

Eugenio Grimaldi and Attilio Montalto.

Eugenio Grimaldi and Rear Admiral Antonio Ranieri.