A group of major Italian shipowners have founded a new association to represent their interests.
AssArmatori features Italian-flag operators, but also - for the first time - foreign companies with interests in the Italian market and employing Italian seafarers.
Stefano Messina, president of the Ignazio Messina shipping group, has been appointed president.
It is backed by Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), Italia Marittima (Evergreen), Finaval, Moby Lines, Tirrenia, Snav, Delcomar, Caronte & Tourist, Maddalena Lines, Toremar and Caremar.
MSC Cargo and MSC Cruises are also among the founders.
The association is aimed at convincing politicians about the essential role of shipping and logistics for the "recovery of Italian economy and for the development of industrial and tourist activities in the country," it said.
TradeWinds reported last summer that the traditional Italian shipping lobby, the Confederazione Italiana Armatori (Confitarma), was reeling from a split over its future direction.
A breakaway group withdrew from the association in a move seen as likely to weaken the voice of Italian shipowners in domestic and international political circles.
North-South rivalry revealed
Rebels included the d’Amico Group, Italia Marittima, Ignazio Messina and GNV.
The defectors left after the election of a new board that was to be responsible for appointing a successor to outgoing president Emanuele Grimaldi, who was stepping down after four years.
The issue opened up a split on geographical lines between Neapolitan owners in southern Italy and others in the northern city of Genoa, who are increasingly allied to Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).
Aponte’s company had acquired a 49% stake in Ignazio Messina. Stefano Messina was a favourite for the Confitarma presidency.
The Aponte-controlled ferry operator GNV said it left Confitarma because there was no possibility of finding “internal cohesion, coherence and representation”.
There was talk of the rebels forming a separate association, but another possibility was for them to join Fedarlinea, a lobby group that used to own much of Italy’s state fleet.
Among its members, Fedarlinea listed companies in the cabotage trades, including MSC-controlled Snav and Vincenzo Onorato’s Moby Lines.
