Grimaldi Group recently acquired a 50% stake of Neapolitan ropax operation TTT Lines, where it is “a silent partner” with two external board members, says managing director Emanuele Grimaldi.

But it also has its eyes on other potential targets, including Greek operator Hellenic Seaways.

The Italian company is just 2% short of acquiring a 51% majority stake in the Greek operator but is keen on acquiring 100% of the stock.

Some speculation has also focused on a possible interest in Genoa-based Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV). That may be harder in the wake of reports that rival operator Vincenzo Onorato of Moby Lines/Tirrenia is forming an alliance with Gianluigi Aponte-controlled GNV/Snav. However, Grimaldi does not appear to rule anything out.

“If we find companies at the right price, we will be buyers. This applies to Grandi Navi and Hellenic and to many other companies,” he said. “We have a model of shipping that has been proven to work with acquisitions.”

Grimaldi says he is preparing to order more ropaxes later in 2017 but the nature of the order will depend on finding takeover targets.

Some potential acquisition targets operate old and uncompetitive ships that need to be replaced, says Grimaldi. Others have ships that might be transferred from one part of the Grimaldi network to another, he adds.

“It depends upon which company in the ferry industry we will buy, because I have to look at the entire picture,” he said.

Grimaldi expects consolidation will prove beneficial for the ropax sector, which he says is sick due to “the lack of ideas and the fact that companies are too small to make the investment to grow”.

He expresses a desire to obtain 100% of the shares of its acquisition targets because that makes it easier to manage the companies.

In Italy, Grimaldi remains optimistic about the prospect of growth in the cabotage trades. The company has started new services connecting the north and south of Italy, which he expects will grow and remove more lorries from Italian roads.

Grimaldi says the financial performance of his company is not expected to be better than 2015, when it logged the best year in its history.

He expects that is partly due to the impact of higher fuel and a weak container market.