NEWS 52 - Grimaldi Group

G r imaldi
NEWS 52
QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE GRIMALDI GROUP
october/ December 2010
Tariffa Regime Libero: Poste Italiane SpA - Spedizione in Abbonamento Postale - 70% - DCB Napoli
• The legacy of Guido Grimaldi
• Vp of Ec Kallas at AET
• Delivery of Eurocargo Malta

The legacy of an Entrepreneur
Guido Grimaldi,
an innovator at the helm
of an unrivalled fleet
Guido Grimaldi, founder and
Chairman of the Grimaldi
Group, was an extraordinary
innovator and a formidable leader at the
helm of a fleet that has expanded massively
in the last 15 years, the number of
ships having actually doubled in the last
four years.
Guido Grimaldi the innovator. Guido
Grimaldi died on 5 September this year
after having worked all his life. He embarked
on his long career at the age of 14
when he started attending nautical school
and spending the other 6 months of the
year embarked on ships and undertaking
a range of increasingly demanding duties.
Guido Grimaldi receives in 1985 the Honour of Cavaliere del Lavoro, an Italian knighthood for
his services to industry, from the then President Francesco Cossiga (centre) and the Minister
of Industry Renato Altissimo (left).
Throughout his life he was always very receptive
to new ideas in shipping and in the
management of the complex set of activities
associated with shipping companies.
Though not directly involved in the finer
points of their methods of operation, he
always favoured the introduction of highly
complex cutting-edge technologies provided
they would really contribute to the
development of the fleet and the business.
It was his extraordinarily modern and farsighted
vision that recognised the potential
and future importance of Ro-Ro transport
of trucks and trailers. He was the first
to realise that, in the complex system of
logistics, the direct business presence of
the shipowner would increase volumes
of traffic and also bring advantages to the
customer, with control of majority of the
operating cycle. As a result of this forward
thinking, the Group now has its own port
terminals and haulage contractors and
also provides the main ancillary services
enabling management of door-to-door
transport for vehicle manufacturers. The
Grimaldi Group has won recognition and
a series of prestigious awards from some
of the world’s leading auto manufacturers
for the quality of its services. As for the
Motorways of the Sea, once again Guido
Grimaldi was quick not only to appreciate
the huge potential of the idea, but also to
invest a great deal of human resources
and capital in it; notably, this included the
construction of four exceptionally large
cruise ferries which were also innovative
in terms of their energy-saving and environmental
compliance features.
One of Guido Grimaldi’s undoubted
qualities was his ability to consider other
people’s points of view; he would always
listen carefully to the suggestions of others,
and especially the advice from his
sons Gianluca and Emanuele and sonin-law
Diego Pacella. The willingness to
make way for the ideas of a new generation
while you’re still in your prime working
with great skill and passion – this too
is a sign of a great innovator.
Guido Grimaldi the entrepreneur.
Guido Grimaldi was a brilliant entrepreneur.
He used to say, “A great fleet is built
2 GNE WS

Left: Guido with his sons Emanuele (standing
on the left), Gianluca (centre) and his
son-in-law Diego Pacella.
Right: Clockwise, the m/vessel “Amelia
Grimaldi”, named after the mother of Guido
Grimaldi and sister of Achille Lauro. Built in
Venice in 1960, this tanker was the biggest
in Italy in thoses times.
Guido with his uncle Achille Lauro.
patiently, seizing market opportunities
and recognising a good deal before other
people, with courage, money and above
all, putting your heart and soul into it.”
When his uncle Achille Lauro, who was
for many years one of the world’s most
important private shipowners, helped
him purchase his first vessel, one of the
Liberty ships assigned by the United
States to Italy to compensate owners for
tonnage lost in World War II, probably not
even he thought that that ship could be the
foundation stone for a huge Group – which
now comprises some eight shipping companies
(4 Italian, 4 foreign) and over 100
vessels. At the start of the venture, in 1947,
the outfit was small: Guido, his brothers
Aldo, Mario and Ugo, and a few hundred
seafarers. Today, there are 3,000 shoreside
personnel and 5,000 shipboard employees.
Guido Grimaldi assembled an
excellent team of managers and executives
that enabled the Group not only to
come through the recent global economic
unscathed, but to emerge even stronger,
with more human resources and vessels
than ever deployed on the world’s major
trade routes.
The Group today. The white “G” on a
blue background forming the company
flag now flies across four continents. In
2009 the ships of the Group carried
around 2.7 million passengers, 2.5 million
cars and over 1.3 million trailers, trucks
and containers. Every week Grimaldi
ships call at over 130 ports in the Mediterranean,
the Baltic, Northern Europe,
West Africa, North & South America, and
the Near East thus contributing to the economic
development of many countries.
Tributes. “A true Renaissance man.”
Among the many tributes paid to Guido
Grimaldi this was one of the most indicative.
Another commentator used a quote
from Ernest Hemingway: “Some people
never die. They leave a legacy that lives
forever.” His friend Andy sent the following
message to all the Group’s personnel:
“We will do everything possible to ensure
that he is always proud of all of us.” Tributes
to the great man poured in from all
over the world, with many remembrances
of his exceptional generosity and other
special and unique qualities. One person
said he was “a man who could win
without fighting.” The Mayors of Naples
and Salerno and the Presidents of the Regional
and Provincial Governments all
expressed their condolences personally.
The President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano,
wrote that Guido Grimaldi “played an important
role in the Neapolitan economy
and in the development of the country’s
shipping companies; I also remember
his work in Parliament during the Second
Legislature.”
GNE WS
3

Family and human values
Guido,
a generous man and a kind father
What was Guido the private
man like? “Southern Italy’s
answer to Enrico Cuccia”, as
he was sometimes called? Methodical, a
solitary person of fixed habits? This description
may be true to some extent, if
we consider the great entrepreneur, but
it’s well wide of the mark if we look at the
man that emerges from the many anecdotes
and stories told by his wife Paola
and daughter Consuelo. And, though he
always kept a low profile, Guido Grimaldi
had a wonderful sense of humour; he
once wrote a thank-you note to the Mattozzi
Family, who owned the waterfront
restaurant where he would always eat at
lunchtime, phrased as follows: “Thanks
for letting me survive for so long, over
50 years of patronage….” His laugh was
infectious, he was a wonderful raconteur
and all who knew him found Guido a very
engaging person.
Guido was a tough man, but gentle at the
same time. He was a strict father, but only
so as to prepare his children to deal with
life. He had very high moral standards
and was extremely altruistic, especially
with regard to the less fortunate. He was a
very learned man with a great love of art,
history, archaeology and mythology. He
had a great respect for nature and was
something of an aesthete. “He had an
eye for the women too,” says Paola with
a smile. “Especially redheads; he used to
say that between a portrait of a cardinal
by Titian and a less valuable painting of
a beautiful woman he’d choose the latter.”
Though Consuelo quickly adds, “OK,
but he always said that the best deal he
ever did in his life was when he married
Mum, not just because of her looks, but
because she was well-read, did lots of
voluntary and social work, and appreci-
Above: Guido with his wife Paola and his five children: Consuelo, Cosimo, Gianluca, Amelia
and Emanuele.
Below: The wedding of Guido Grimaldi and Paola Arcidiacono back in 1954.
4 GNE WS

Guido while visiting one of the vessels
of the Group together with his son
Emanuele and grandsons Mario and
Guido Jr.
Below: Guido with his wife Paola and his
grandchildren.
ated the importance of family life. In fact
he let her decide when it came to bringing
up the children, running the house
and choosing friends.”
The young Guido was under the spell of
his uncle Achille Lauro and his largerthan-life
personality. He was the favourite
nephew and never failed to go and
greet his uncle each morning. It was
actually through Achille that Guido met
Paola, since her parents were friends of
the Neapolitan icon known as ‘O Comandante.
It was love at first sight and when
they got married Guido’s best man was
his uncle Achille. By this time Guido was
already a Monarchist Party MP. The wedding
reception was held at the Grand Hotel
in Rome and, while friends and relatives
were still celebrating, Uncle Achille
forced the groom to leave the hotel so
that he could round up some other Members
of Parliament and canvass their support
in order to avoid a party split. “I don’t
know any other woman who was ‘abandoned’
on her wedding day,” Paola jokes,
“but he did come back eventually. By then
it was late though, so we had to change
plans and go to the Palazzo della Fonte
in Fiuggi where they knew us. When we
got there the receptionist eyed us suspiciously
so Guido waved our marriage
certificate at him and said, ‘I know what
you were thinking!’ The family was the
centre of the universe for him. He loved
children, not just his own, but all children
because they’re young and innocent.”
“In summer in Ischia,” Consuelo recalls,
“you would find him on the beach digging
holes and making sandcastles, surrounded
by dozens of kids. Children loved him.
In the last few days before he died, his
face would only light up when Guidolino
came into his room – Guidolino is Amelia’s
son and he’s the baby of the family.
Guido was incredibly fit for his age; at
almost 80 he was still climbing fig trees
and could swim faster and further than
Manuel, who’s a strong swimmer himself.”
Mother and daughter are full of
stories. “Dad was very absent-minded,”
Consuelo remembers, “and while he was
driving he used to read the newspaper,
eat ice creams, get distracted by goodlooking
women and so on. Anyway, one
day, while he was out in his car he ran
into a little old man. Luckily it wasn’t serious
but my father went to see him at the
Pellegrini Hospital and this fellow’s wife
said to Dad, ‘Mr Grimaldi, he’s the only
husband I’ve got. Did you want to leave
me on my own without even him?’ Dad
thought this was very funny and ended
up paying the old man handsomely in
compensation.”
“He always believed you could and
should find a solution to any problem. I
never ever heard him say, ‘I’m too tired’
or ‘I can’t be bothered’. He was an optimist
by nature and I only saw him really
upset once,” Paola adds affectionately.
“That was when Luca was kidnapped
and we still had no word after paying the
second instalment of the ransom. Guido
thought they’d killed Luca. Thank God
they hadn’t and it all turned out for the
best.”
“In the last few years of his life,” Paola
concludes, “he developed something
of a sweet tooth, but he didn’t like to admit
it because he considered it a sign of
weakness. And he also became a bit vain.
After decades of blue and grey suits he
discovered a liking for lighter colours,
especially lavender-grey jackets after his
children and friends told him that shade
really suited him.”
GNE WS
5

Xxxxxxxxxxx
Editorial
Time for Europe to act
Contents
2 Guido Grimaldi, an innovator
4 A generous man and
a kind father
7 “Grande Togo” christened,
“Eurocargo Genova” delivered
8 Siim Kalls at AET
9 New era in Ancona‐Greece
maritime links
10 New Livorno-Catania -Malta
service launched
Irish Minister of Defence
visits the “Grande Senegal”
11 Grimaldi receives the
Ford Q1 certification
12 Honda recognises ACL
Beninese Minister visits
the m/v Grande Benin
13 News
14 Agent List
15 Schedules
- Mediterranean Short Sea Network
- Finnlines (Baltic & North Sea)
- Atlantic Network
- ACL
- Euro Med Network
G r imaldi
NE WS
Direttore Responsabile / Editor in Chief
Luciano Bosso
Progetto grafico /Graphic design
Marco Di Lorenzo
Pubblicazione trimestrale
Quarterly publication
Reg. Trib. Napoli n. 5150 del 26/9/2000
Stampa / Print: ROSSI srl - Nola (Napoli)
Circulation 34,500 copies
Printed on 1 st October
GRIMALDI GROUP
Via Marchese Campodisola, 13
6 GNE WS80133 NAPOLI (Italy)
Grimaldi News can be seen on
line on www.grimaldi.napoli.it
Irresponsible shipowners have been a danger to life, limb and property ever since man
first took to the sea in ships, but rarely can the dangers posed by the sub-standard owner
and his sub-standard vessel have been so various or threatening as they are today.
As world trade has expanded, so too has the world fleet. The boom that came before the
crash provided an opportunity for fleet replacement and many far-sighted, responsible owners
took the opportunity offered by surging profits to order new ships and despatch older
vessels to the breakers’ yard.
Yet many did not. Even now, the world’s oceans are full of vessels in excess of 30 years of
age, or even 40, which is surely well past any reasonable retirement age. While the age of
a ship may not correlate exactly with its quality, it is also true that, as vessels age, necessary
maintenance becomes more critical and more costly. Some owners are simply not
prepared for the investment, whether in money, time or organisation, that keeping their ship
safe entails.
And yet the need to focus on the structural integrity of the fleet has never been more acute.
As shipowners, we have a responsibility to our crews, who trust us to maintain, at a very
minimum, the standards of training and vessel quality required under international regulation.
This need is pressing at a time when attracting bright young people to our industry
is increasingly difficult. For those of us who carry passengers, there is a similar need to
ensure we meet our customers’ expectation that our ships are state-of-the-art in every way.
As citizens, we also have a responsibility to the marine environment, and to the children
and grandchildren who will inherit the seas we leave behind. Of all the transport modes,
shipping may be the most environmentally friendly, but that does not mean we have done
all that we can do.
As we debate new emissions standards and work to develop and implement energy efficiencies
both onboard and ashore, the continuing employment of old, sub-standard tonnage
is both an affront to those of us fighting to make a difference, and paying the cost,
and a blow to our chances of reducing shipping’s impact on the environment.
At Grimaldi, we have been fighting the good fight for some time, working to cut energy use
across the company, collaborating on research projects to develop new, environmentally
beneficial technologies, and ordering state-of-the-art new ships to replace older vessels.
As a result, the 87 ships in the Grimaldi fleet have an average age of just 9.3 years, below
the average age of the european (about ten years) and world fleet (12 years). With 21 ships
delivered over the last five years and 17 more to come, that will drop further, improving the
company’s performance and reinforcing its reputation as a careful steward of our customers,
our seafarers and the environment in which we operate.
Yet there is only so much that we and other responsible shipowners and operators can do
to make a difference if others continue to operate old and sub-standard tonnage with impunity.
That is why we are calling for European regulation that would mandate the scrapping
of all vessels over 30 years of age, effectively driving them from our ports and waters.
Such regulation, strictly enforced with the assistance of classification societies, flag states
and port states, will not only improve standards of safety and remove a significant threat to
the environment but help rebalance markets in which the supply of ships far outstrips demand,
endangering the economic survival of many sound companies. The benefits of such
a policy are many, the down side negligible. The time to act is now.

Fleet development
“Grande Togo” christened,
“Eurocargo Genova” delivered
In the last few months the newbuilding
programme of the Grimaldi Group
has seen the launch of a new vessel
and the delivery of another one. In fact,
on the 1 st of August the “Grande Togo”
was launched at the Uljanik shipyard
(Croatia) while the “Eurocargo Malta”
was delivered on the 24 th of the same
month from the Korean shipyard of Hyundai
Mipo in Ulsan.
The launching of the ro/ro-container
vessel “Grande Togo” was held at the
Scoglio Olivi shipyard, and the Godmother
of the vessel was young Nina Sebastijan,
a 2 nd year student of the primary
school of Monteparadiso. The “Grande
Togo”, the sixth of a series of seven units
commissioned by the Group, has a gross
tonnage of 26,650 tonnes, a length of 210
metres, a width of 32 metres and a height
of 21.5 metres. Thanks to her 12 decks,
two of which are hoistable, she is able to
transport 3,890 cars and 1,360 containers
at a maximum speed of 21.9 knots.
The vessel will be deployed on the West
Africa route, on the Southern Express
Service, linking North Europe to the
ports of Casablanca, Dakar, Lome, Luanda,
Lobito, Douala and Abidjan.
The “Eurocargo Malta”, sistership of the
“Eurocargo Genova”, was delivered on
the 24 th of August and is the second of
eight units ordered from the Korean
shipyard of Hyunday Mipo in Ulsan.
Measuring 200 metres long, 26.5 metres
wide and with a gross tonnage of
32,644 tonnes, she can transport 3,900
linear metres of rolling cargo (cars, vans,
trucks, trailers, etc.) at a service speed
of 23 knots. The “Eurocargo Malta” is
classified by the Italian Ship Classification
society (RINA) and has a ramp capable
of loading up to 120 tonnes. The
vessel has ten decks, two of which are
hoistable. She joined the “Eurocargo
Genova” on the short sea route linking
the port of Genoa to Livorno, Catania
and Malta.
GNE WS
7

Events
Siim Kalls at AET
The Vice President of the European
Commission and Commissioner for
Transport visited the Group’s terminal
in Antwerp in September
On the 13 th of September the
Vice President of the European
Commission and Commissioner
for Transport Siim Kallas visited
Antwerp Euroterminal (AET) with a delegation
comprised of Etienne Schouppe,
Belgian Secretary of State for Transport,
Frans van Rompuy, Director General of
the Belgian Ministry of Transport, Eddy
Bruyninckx, Managing Director of the
Antwerp Port Authority, Alfons Guinier,
Secretary General of ECSA (European
Community Shipowners' Associations),
Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of
ESPO (European Sea Ports Organisation)
and various officials from DG Move.
The Commissioner and his delegation
were received by Emanuele Grimaldi,
co-managing director of the Grimaldi
Group, Marc Ivens, managing director
of AET and Mexiconatie (shareholder together
with the Grimaldi Group in Antwerp
Euroterminal) and by Francesco
Costa, Chef Operations Officers of AET.
A short tour of the facilities was organised,
illustrating the logistics and multimodal
operations at the terminal, particularly
the connection between the terminal
and the European road, rail and inland
waterways network. The tour was followed
by a visit and cocktail party held
onboard the Pure Car & Truck Carrier
Grande Colonia, currently deployed by
the Grimaldi Group on the Euro Aegean
Service, linking North Europe to various
Mediterranean ports.
Currently, AET manages a terminal on
the Left Bank of the port of Antwerp with
a surface of one million m2, a quay length
of 1,600 metres and storage facilities for
any type of rolling equipment, containers
and unitised general cargo. Today, the
terminal is being used as a hub by the
various ro/ro-container services of the
Grimaldi Group to the Mediterranean,
West Africa and South America as well
as by Finnlines (a Grimaldi Group company)
for their services to Spain and the
Baltic Sea.
Top: From left to right: Siim Kallas, Emanuele
Grimaldi and Etienne Schouppe.
Below left: Siim Kallas while visiting the m/
vessel Grande Colonia accompanied by
Emanuele Grimaldi and the Belgian Secretary
of State for Transport Etienne Schouppe.
Below right: Emanuele Grimaldi, Eddy Bruyninckx
(Managing Director of the Antwerp Port
Authority), Siim Kallas and Etienne Schouppe.
8 GNE WS

Mediterranean routes
New era in Ancona‐Greece
maritime links
“Cruise Europa” and “Cruise
Olympia” offer unrivalled
services both for freight
and passengers
Minoan Lines, a Grimaldi
Group company, is experiencing
a significant increase
in the volume of freight and passengers
transported on the daily service it operates
between the Italian port of Ancona
and the Greek ports of Igoumenitsa and
Patras.
In spite of the crisis which is heavily affecting
the Greek economy, prospects
are very encouraging for this year’s
summer season where Minoan Lines
achieved unprecedented records in the
history of the maritime links between
Italy and Greece by transporting over
2,800 passengers on many sailings between
Patras, Igoumenitsa and Ancona.
The secret of this success is in the deployment
on the service of the twin
vessels “Cruise Europa” and “Cruise
Olympia”, last in a series of four cruise
ferries built by the Fincantieri shipyards.
Delivered respectively in October 2009
and June 2010, both units have marked
the start of a new era in the maritime links
between Italy and Greece, by ensuring a
high standard of service both for freight
Ancona
Igoumenitsa
Patras
and passengers.
The “Cruise Olympia” and “Cruise Europa”
are the biggest cruise ferries in
the Mediterranean. With a length of 225
metres, a width of 31 metres, a gross tonnage
of 54,310 tonnes and a speed of 28
knots, they perform the journey between
Ancona and Patras (via Igoumenitsa) in
only 22 hours.
Both units have an unbeatable capacity
for both passengers and freight, allowing
Minoan Lines to offer extremely competitive
freight rates and fares. The freight
capacity of each vessel is 3,000 linear
metres of rolling units (trucks, trailers,
coaches and vans) and 250 passenger
cars which means offering an unlimited
space to trucking companies even during
the summer months when the number
of passengers increases dramatically
and usually competes with freight for
space onboard.
With regard to passengers, both the
“Cruise Europa” and the “Cruise Olympia”
can transport up to 3,000 passengers
who can be accommodated in 413 comfortable
cabins (18 of which are owner’s
suites and 50 junior suites) in addition to
548 reclining seats (114 of which are firstclass).
They both offer onboard services
similar to those of cruiseships: an à la
carte restaurant, bars, casino, gym, a
conference hall, wellness area, swimming
pool, two lounges for truck drivers,
disco, internet point, and children’s areas.
GNE WS
9

Mediterranean routes
New Livorno-Catania-Malta
service launched
The Grimaldi Group continues its policy
of strengthening and expanding
its activities in the Western Mediterranean
by launching another maritime
link. As from the 25 th of September, a
new regular service for rolling freight
between the ports of Malta, Catania and
Livorno (the main port of Tuscany), has
become operational.
The new line has a twice-a-week frequency,
with departures from Livorno
to Catania on Thursdays and Sundays,
and to Malta on Mondays and Thursdays.
Departures from Malta to Livorno
are on Mondays and Saturdays, while
from Catania to Livorno on Tuesdays
and Saturdays. The new call at the port
of Livorno has been integrated into the
regular service currently offered by the
Group between the ports of Genoa, Catania
and Malta.
Valencia
Barcelona
Genoa
Porto Torres
Irish Minister of Defence
visits the “Grande Senegal”
Cagliari
Tunis
Al Khoms
Livorno
Civitavecchia
Palermo
Trapani
Salerno
Catania
Malta
Patras
Two sisterships are operating on this new
connection: the “Eurocargo Malta” and
“Eurocargo Genoa”, the youngest units
of the Group’s fleet. Delivered by the
Hyundai Mipo shipbuilders last summer,
both units can carry about 4,000 linear
metres of rolling cargo, equivalent to 280
trailers, at a service speed of 23 knots.
With the launch of these new maritime
links the Grimaldi Group further
strengthens its Motorways of the Sea
network and confirms its commitment
to provide an extensive range of direct
connections for the transport of rolling
freight between Northern Italy (Genoa),
Central Italy (Civitavecchia), Sicily (Catania)
and, via transhipment, to the markets
of Greece, Libya and Spain.
Corinth
On the 26 th of July 2010 the Irish
Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen
TD, accompanied by Defence
Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant
General Sean McCann, were in the port
of Dublin to oversee to the discharge
operations of the Defence Forces equipment
from the “Grande Senegal”, which
had transported the equipment from
Chad.
The arrival in Dublin represents the final
phase of a major logistics operation
which began in April, following the Irish
Government's decision to commence the
withdrawal of its troops from Chad.
The operation began with the dismantling
of Defence Forces facilities in Goz
Beida, Eastern Chad. Cargo was moved
about 900 km across the desert and
then sensitive cargo was flown to the
Cameroonese Port of Douala, while the
remaining equipment of the Defence
Forces was moved 900 km by road and
then onward by rail to the port of Douala.
On the 13th of July over 3,000 tonnes
of equipment was loaded on board the
“Grande Senegal”, from Douala to Dublin;
the equipment included 208 TEU containers
and 75 trucks, 4x4 and armoured
vehicles, with an assortment of trailers,
fuel bowsers and other wheeled units.
Chad which is located in Central Africa,
is approximately twice the size of France,
with little or no infrastructure.
The “Grande Senegal”, with a length of
210.92 metres, a width of 32.26 metres
and a gross tonnage of 47,300 tonnes, is
able to load 2,000 cars/vans, 2,000 linear
metres of rolling cargo and 800 TEU. It is
deployed on the Southern Express Service
linking North Europe to the southern
ports of West Africa and the Lisbon Express
Service, linking Portugal with West
Africa.
10 GNE WS

Achievements
Grimaldi receives the Ford
Q1 certification for the 10 th
consecutive year
The automotive giant recognises the Group’s excellence and
quality of services
For the 10 th year in a row the automotive
giant Ford granted the
Grimaldi Group the Ford Q1 quality
certification, the highest award granted
by the automotive firm to its suppliers.
The Group was the first European shipping
company in getting this certificate,
in 1999.
The Ford Motor Company requires high
quality standards from its various suppliers.
One of these requirements is determined
by the QOS (Quality Operating
System) tool that each supplier must use
to achieve the Ford certification, a recognition
of excellence and quality.
The QOS provides a number of parameters,
metrics and systems of work involving
the entire team, including the
Management. Subsequently, on an annual
basis, Ford audits its suppliers to
establish if they really set working procedures
in accordance with the levels of
Ford's demand.
According to Capt. Giovanni Fusco,
Quality and Damage Prevention Manager,
"in 1996 the Group started to integrate
the QOS tool in our quality system involving
all the equipment (ships, terminals,
employees ...) and in 1999 we succeeded
in being credited with the Q1. "
Capt Fusco declared that the 10 th Q1 certification
is a "great satisfaction, not only
because it represents the maintenance of
excellence, but also because it is a commitment
to continuous improvement."
To perform the audit for the Q1 certification,
Ford divides the activities of their
suppliers into four main modules, with
their subdivisions, which will be evaluated
one by one and rated on the basis
of a maximum score. The four modules
quoted refer to the quality (performance
quality, process improvement, customer
focus); delivery (performance in transit),
engineering (equipment, technical and
innovation novice) and the commercial
module (productivity, development prices,
Management ability, etc.).
GNE WS11

Achievements
American Honda recognises ACL
with Premier Partner Award
Atlantic Container Line (ACL), a
Grimaldi Group company, was recognised
as a top supplier by American
Honda Motor Co.
President & CEO Tetsuo Iwamura presented
the company’s Premier Partner
Award to ACL for excellence in international
transportation between North
America and Europe. ACL was one of
15 award recipients selected from 45 suppliers
nominated by American Honda
associates nationwide. William Kearns,
Executive Vice-President for ACL, stated:
"It is an honour and a distinct privilege
for ACL to receive this prestigious award
from American Honda. We are very fortunate
to have earned their trust and
support the past 20 years in providing
transportation services for their transatlantic
shipments."
The Premier Partner Awards were established
in 1998 to recognize suppliers who
embrace American Honda’s philosophy
of exceeding customer expectations.
This year’s award winners represent
excellence in a variety of industries including
logistics, printing, marketing,
packaging and much more.
“Today we acknowledge an outstanding
group of suppliers who embody Honda’s
philosophy of delivering the highest possible
value to our customers through
quality products and customer service,”
said Gary Kessler, American Honda’s
senior vice president of Human Resources,
Administration and Corporate Affairs.
“The support of these suppliers is critical
to the success of American Honda and
we are honoured to recognize them for
their exceptional contributions.”
Since 1967, ACL has been a specialised
carrier of containers, project and
oversized cargo, heavy equipment and
vehicles with the world’s largest combination
Ro-Ro/containerships. ACL offers
five transatlantic sailings each week as
well as container, Ro-Ro and breakbulk
service between North America and
West Africa and oversized service to the
Mediterranean, Middle East, Australia,
South America, Far East and South Africa.
Beninese Minister of Maritime
Transport visits the “Grande Benin”
From left to right:
Philip W. Byrne, Area Sales Manager, Chicago
ACL with Tetsuo Iwamura, President of
Honda North America, and William F. Kearns
Executive Vice President of ACL
Last 3 rd of August the m/vessel Grande
Benin was welcomed by a high-ranked
delegation of the Beninese Government at
the port of Cotonou.
The welcoming ceremony was held on
board the vessel and was attended by the
Minister of Maritime Transport Issa Badarou
Soulé, the king of the Yoruba Tribe Onikoyi,
the Italian consul Vitaliano Gobbo
and many local authorities and customers.
After the welcoming speech held by the
master of the vessel Giovan Battista Virzì,
the Managing Director of Grimaldi Benin
Giuliano Petrellese underlined the presence
of the Group in Benin for the last 20
years, in which the Group counts about
2 million vehicles discharged and the
number of yearly calls at Cotonou exceeding
100.
During the ceremony, the Minister Issa
Badarou Soulé underlined not only the importance
of having the vessel named after
the name of the host country, but also the
contribute that the ro-ro/container vessel
Grande Benin (built in 2009) will give to
the trade of Benin, bringing welfare to the
country. He finally wished the cooperation
between the Grimaldi Group and the
country would continue in a future reciprocal
partnership.
After the blessing of king Onikoyi, who
personally thanked Gianluca Grimaldi,
co-managing director of the Group, and
wished the vessel favorable winds through
out oceans, the ceremony ended with an
exchange of gifts and a visit of the vessel.
12 GNE WS

Minoan
carries generator
to Greece
O
n the 21
st
of August Minoan Lines shipped a
generator from Venice to Igoumenitsa on board
the “Olympia Palace”: the abnormal cargo weighed
110 tonnes, had an height of 4 metres, a length of
34.5 metres with a width of 3.85 metres.
NEWS
Museum quality
handling for vintage trolley
ACL transported a 1912 trolley car from New York to Gothenburg,
Sweden, on board the “Atlantic Concert”. The No. 71 tram was
part of a collection at the Branford Electric Railway in East Haven,
Connecticut, which ran a trolley route from 1907 through 1937. The
trolley was 10 metres long, 1.8 metres wide, 3.8 metres high and had
a weight of 13 tonnes. Upon arrival at Gothenburg the trolley was
safely discharged to the Swedish Tramway Society Museum for display.
Rail wagon
from the UK to Italy
On the 15 th of September a rail wagon was shipped on board
the “Gran Bretagna” deployed on the Euromed service
route, from the port of Southampton to Salerno. The wagon, with
a length of 24.5 metres, a width of 2.74 metres and a height of
4.7 metres, weighed 73 tonnes and was loaded on a 1x 80’ mafi.
Old London busses sail
onto “Atlantic Cartier” after
50-year round trip
ACL recently transported a convoy of 11 antique double-decker busses
from the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, on board
its RoRo/Containership “Atlantic Cartier”.
The fleet of former London Transport busses made one of their longest
scheduled trips ever: the classic AEC Routemaster and Regent doubledeckers
returned to the UK after operating at Prince Edward Island, Nova
Scotia, for cruise line passenger tours, since the early 1960s.
On the 11th of May the busses were quickly discharged in Liverpool via the
vessel’s 420-metric tonne capacity stern ramp; they were then stored at
the Port of Liverpool prior to being transported to Essex where the busses
will become part of the Epping Ongar Railway Heritage Service.
GNE WS13