Intermodal Marine Terminal (IMT) - Messina Group

One of the longest established companies operating in the Port of Genoa, the Messina Group, founded in 1921 by Ignazio Messina, is by no means anchored in the past. The company’s philosophy is to develop a fully intermodal operation with control over its own shipping services, handling facilities and onward intermodal transportation to ensure a reliable high quality service package.

With the overall transformation of the business activity from conventional ship owner to ro-ro container carrier - today with one of the largest ro-ro container fleets in the world - Messina centred its operations in the Port of Genoa in 1969. The company diversified in overland transport and by the end of the 1980s became one of the first intermodal operators (MTO) to operate block train services in central and northern Italy. The expansion of the company’s activities made requirement for more space to cope with increasing traffic volumes a major priority and prompted Messina to request the concession to operate Ponte Nino Ronco and Calata Derna.

The Group invested substantially to improve the 167,000 sqm concession at the Nino Ronco location, in 2004 extended to Ponte Canepa, a portion of Calata Bengasi and the areas lying behind for a total area of 253,000 sqm, furnishing the terminal with the equipment and infrastructure needed for rapid and efficient cargo handling, including warehousing and consolidation. In 2009 Messina, in temporary association with Terminal San Giorgio, won the tender to operate the area between Ponte Canepa and Calata Tripoli.

Today Intermodal Marine Terminal (IMT) is a truly multipurpose facility, fully equipped to cater for all key commodity sectors: containers, general and rolling cargo, machinery, yachts and boats, and project cargo. The Messina group has recently applied a new strategy: IMT Terminal has opened up to the market, offering its extensive experience in the multipurpose shipping sector to all clients who request services tailor-made to their specific requirements.

In terms of conditioned cargo, Messina’s terminal operating management company, IMT, features a temperature-controlled storage facility in the heart of the Port of Genoa, with 130 reefer plugs and a 7,000-m3 reefer cell for perishable goods covering a total surface area of 720 sqm, with ample shelving units offering optimal conditions for the cold storage of pallets. The refrigerated and temperature-controlled area within the Customs-bonded area of the IMT facility ensures the swift, safe and efficient handling of reefers and pallets for maximum freshness.

IMT operates regular block train services through a network of inland terminals in Milan, Brescia, Vicenza and Dinazzano which all offer connections to major industrial and consumer centres across Central and Southern Europe.