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Slovenian port operator Luka Koper and its Italian counterparts in Ravenna, Trieste and Venice are mounting a joint promotional push in the Far East to raise awareness of the North Adriatic shipping route as an alternative to congested European harbours further afield, SeeNews Slovenia reported.
In June, top officials from the North Adriatic Port Association (NAPA), a lobby group co-founded by the four port operators were busy meeting with potential business partners in an attempt to lure more cargo flows from the Far East.
“There were talks about our services and possibilities, which will be continued and certainly can lead to concrete business connections in future,” the association said in a statement.
“The promotion of North Adriatic Gateway to Europe is one of the main objectives and activities of NAPA. We shall continue our marketing activities in the Far East region both as an association and as single ports as well,” the statement said.
The Adriatic route is already winning over shipping companies with transport services to and from Far East markets. In mid-2009, Marseille-based container shipping group CMA-CGM teamed up with peer Maersk to establish a direct container service connecting Asia and the Adriatic area.
Another proof of the growing importance of the Adriatic route is a new container service launched by four carriers - South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine, Taiwan’s Yang Ming Lineand the United Arab Shipping Company, in May 2010. The first vessel of this new service departed from Pusan, South Korea, on May 31 and docked at the port of Koper on June 28. The rotation in the Adriatic also includes the ports of Trieste and Venice in Italy and Rijeka in Croatia.
The regular services from China to NAPA ports are currently operating only for container ships. There are none for general cargo or other kinds of cargo. As for China, the association expects it will increase its share on the vehicle transportation market, thanks to recent developments and trends in its automobile industry.
The four NAPA seaports are located at the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea, a natural waterway that penetrates deep into the middle of the European continent, thus providing the cheapest naval route from the Far East via the Suez Canal to Europe with a distance that is about 4,000 nautical miles shorter than the route to North European ports, NAPA.
Cargonews Asia
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