The shipping platform

Location: Gioia Tauro is situated on the E shore of the Gulf of Gioia in southern Italy, 18 n.m. NE of the Straits of Messina and 160 km. SSE of Naples. General overview: Port of Gioia Tauro is the largest port in Italy for container throughput, the 9th in Europe and the 6th in Mediterranean sea. The port is operated by the Medcenter Container Terminal which provides international hub and feeder connections to a number of strategic ports in the Mediterranean. There are also a significant number of vehicle transhipments. The port district has a total area of 4,400,000 square meters (440 ha) and it is located in a median position along the coast of the gulf of Gioia Tauro. It has a channel configuration with an internal water surface area of 180 acres, unfolding parallel to the coast. The entrance of the channel has a width of 300 meters and widens into a basin of evolution with a diameter of 750 meters. The port channel unfolds northbound for more than 3 km, with a width ranging from 200 to 250 meters. At the northern extreme of the canal there is a second evolution basin with a diameter of 500 meters. The port has 5,125 meters of docks, of which 3,391 meters along the east side, 814 meters along the north side and 920 meters along the west side. The water depth reaches 18 meters. Gioia Tauro Harbour contains a total of 5,152 meters (16.9 thousand feet) of quays. The quay for container transshipments is 3391 meters (11.1 thousand feet) long. In 2010, Gioia Tauro Harbour handled over 2.8 million TEUs of containerized cargo. The quay for transshipment of automobiles in Gioia Tauro Harbour is 384 meters (1.2 thousand feet) long. The car carrier terminal in Gioia Tauro Harbour handled 75 thousand cars in 2007. Operated by a joint venture between German BLG Logistics Group and Japan's ICO Shipping Company, the automobile terminal handles mainly Asian brands that are moving through Gioia Tauro Harbour between Japan, Thailand, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Turkey, and India. Gioia Tauro Harbour's roll-on/roll-off quay berth is 200 meters (656.2 feet) long. The quay for commercial and passenger traffic is 920 meters (three thousand feet) long, and the quay for port services is 257 meters (843 feet) long. The Gioia Tauro Harbour contains 155 hectares for the storage of transshipment containers and 24 hectares for the storage of transshipment cars. It also has three hectares devoted to commercial and passenger traffic. Traffic figures: Approx 3,300 vessels and 3,500,000TEU handled annually. Load line zone: Summer. Max size: Super post Panamax container vessels, draught 15.0m.