The Ports of Genoa consolidates its leading role in container handling, with volumes firmly back to pre-pandemic levels, up +0.6% on 2021 at 2.8 million TEUs. Total containerised tonnage rose by +3.5%, with gateway box traffic registering an increase of +4.1% compared to 2021, thereby establishing Genoa, Savona and Vado-Ligure as premier maritime hub for Northern Italy's manufacturing and consumer heartland.
For the third consecutive year, the growth in container traffic has boosted the port's modal split, up to 16.6% by rail, with a major concentration in the Vado Ligure and Genova Pra' terminals which reported respectively a 22% and 19% rate, in line with EU mid-term targets. In 2022 the Ports of Genoa registered a total of 418,695 TEUs freighted by over 10,000 rail cars, a +10.1% advance on the previous year.
Positive results across the board: the Ports of Genoa, Savona and Vado-Ligure responded robustly to the uncertainties which have blighted international trade in the latter part of the year and confirmed a +4.2% advance in total cargo throughput to 66,226,597 tons. One of the port's leading commodity segments, conventional general cargo which includes the ro-ro product group, continued along an upward trend, rising to almost 14.6 million tons, +4.9% compared to 2021.
The solid bulk industry continues to show signs of recovery across the past year, with a +0.7 increase reported on 2021, registering a total of 2,538,691 tons.
Liquid bulk continues to perform strongly, an upturn of + 8.6% compared to the previous year, with Savona-Vado Ligure recording 6.3 million tons and Genoa almost 13 million tons.
Passenger traffic, which remains the port sector to have been most severely impacted by the repercussions of the pandemic, finally experienced a surge in numbers, specifically in the last six months of the year. The ferry terminals handled a total of 2,661,442 passengers, a jump of +40.3% on the previous year and an improvement on pre-Covid 2019. The cruise terminals reported a passenger count of 1,571,567, pointing to a rebound in the industry, with a +10% increase in cruise calls compared to 2019, thereby consolidating the Ports of Genoa and Savona's third-post ranking amongst the top Mediterranean cruise hubs.
