Grimaldi Group

Grimaldi Lines

This is the main shipping company within the group. The Grimaldi family has had links to shipping for many generations. According to their own records, the oldest written records linking the Grimaldi family to shipping dates back to 1348, when three Grimaldi brothers received a precious relic as a guarantee for the chartering of three ships^[4]

The current Grimaldi companies can be traced back to the middle of the 19th century, when Italian shipowner Gioacchino Lauro started a steamboat company. His son Achille expanded that shipping company and, in the middle of the 20th century, it became one of the largest shipping companies in the world. At that time, Giovanni Grimaldi was a lawyer who was married to the sister of above Achille Lauro. Amelia Grimaldi-Lauro asked her brother Achillo to take her son Guido under his wings, and this brought the Grimaldi family back into the shipping business. It was this son, Guido, who founded the group in 1947 with his brothers Luigi, Mario, Aldo and Ugo by buying a Liberty ship.

Ferry operations

Grimaldi Lines operate ferry-lines with routes in the Mediterranean. They have routes to Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Malta and Italy. Under the Grimaldi Lines brand they operate six ro-ro ferries. The ships in the Grimaldi Lines fleet vary in size and design, with the larger ferries being able to carry up to 2200 passengers and a cruise-speed of 22.5 knots

Cargo

For cargo the company uses their passenger cruise ferry class ships, dedicated truck ferries and also container/ro-ro ships. Grimaldi has a fleet of special car carriers. Grimaldi has 32 dedicated car + container ships and another 5 Atlantic class ships.^[5]

One of these car-carriers, the Republica de Argentina ran aground in the Western Scheldt between the North Sea and the port of Antwerp on 7 October 2011 but was pulled back afloat at the next high tide^[6]

Facts and accidents

In August 2018, in short succession, two Grimaldi vessels were stopped by the Brazilian authorities at Santos. On 7th August, 1.2 ton of cocaine drug was found hidden inside a container on mv Grande Nigeria.^[7] On mv Grande Francia two containers were noted with broken seals by the crew, and intruders were spotted fleeing the ship anchored at Santos roads. Consequently 1.3 ton cocaine was found inside the containers by local authorities on 12th August.^[8]

On 27 April 2018, Grimaldi Group announced the agreement to build six new vessels at Jinling shipyard in China, for a total investment of over USD 400 million. The vessels will be ready for delivery within end of 2020, with a gross tonnage of 64,000GRT each. The ships shall be hybrid powered by both fuel and electricity, becoming emission free during the port stays, when fully switched to electricity mode. Three of these shall also be ice class and leased to Finnlines as additional new tonnage, to perform their Baltic service.^[9]

On 8 August 2017, mv Grande Nigeria was issued a seizure warrant by Dakar Port Authority until a damage repayment instructed. The vessel broke her moorings, and accidentally collided with a ferry docked close by. Mv Diambogne suffered severe damages in her hull, that made sea water entering the engine room. ^[10]

On 27 November 2016, while en route from Valencia to Autoport-Izmit, mv Grande Anversa collided with general cargo mv Sider Capri in the Cannakale Strait in Turkey. Both vessels reported minor damages, but had to interrupt their commercial voyages, proceeding to anchorage to undertake investigations and surveys.^[11]

On 22 October 2014, mv Grande Francia encountered extreme bad weather conditions on the way from Tilbury to Hamburg. The vessel faced severe rolling and strong gust winds that caused ten 40’ containers to break their lashings and fall overboard.^[12]

On 8 March 2007, mv Repubblica of Genova capsized during Antwerp port stay. The vessel was loading containers and vehicles due to possible incorrect stowage and ballast. A large portion of the cargo fall overboard, however the vessel was rescued and towed to dry dock.^[13]