The main hub of our shipping company is in the heart of Genoa.

In 1977, Ignazio Messina started to perform as terminal operator in the harbor of La Spezia, where he built a private terminal near the commercial port, obtaining the functional autonomy and further increasing his traffics.

Ignazio Messina & C. began to manage inland transports and became, by the late 1980s, one of the major intermodal operators (MTO) that was able to manage block trains in North and Center Italy.
Only in 1996, in conjunction with the rise of private terminal operators, the Company moved back to Genoa granting the concession of Molo Ronco, Calata Derna, and the background areas.

In October 2009, the Company took part in and won, after several disagreements, a tender notice to gain the space between Molo Canepa and Calata Tripoli.
Nowadays our Intermodal Marine Terminal, the new company name of Terminal Messina since 2016, is a real multipurpose terminal, a complex capable of moving any type of cargos except for liquids and dry bulk: containers, rolling cargos, general cargos, equipment, yachts, boats, and special cargos.

The port area we directly manage is about 253,000 square meters and has a 1,300 m-long dock that allows the mooring of up to 4 ship units with a medium draught of 13 m.
Our terminal is equipped with 4 portainer cranes (ship-to-shore), 2 transtainer cranes and a mobile crane; the operational area is equipped with 12 reach stackers, 22 fork lifts, 25 fifth wheels, 23 trailers and 8 roll trailers.
The warehouse is 11,000 square meters, the car parking area has a surface of 6,524 sq. and the rolling cargo ones measure 31,000 square meters, IMT has a total storage capacity of 10,000 TEU, with a special area reserved for dangerous goods (for a maximum of 305 TEU); moreover, we provide 350 plugs for refrigerated containers, for a maximum volume of 7,000 cubic meters.

IMT is directly connected to the railway and motorway networks through a private enter gap, and a secondary gate guarantees the access to a background port area where there are 5 tracks that can hold 440-meter-long freight trains.
IMT possess a TOS (Terminal Operating System) that allows to manage all the operative and planning activities regarding storage, ships, and railways. This system is equipped with web applications and is tightly connected with the Port Community System E-Port, in order to speed all the documents’ and bureaucratic operations. Furthermore, it is possible to exchange with us any kind of EDIfact messages and create ad hoc reports, based on the needs of the client.

At the moment there are work in progress to fill up the space between Molo Ronco and Molo Canepa; when completed, the total operative area’s surface will measure 316,000 sq., the draught will reach 14.5 meters, and the tracks that can receive freight trains will be 6.

At the beginning of the 2000s, Terminal Messina was the first European terminal to achieve the Environmental (ISO 14001) and the Health and Safety (OHSAS 18001) certifications, in addition to being the first terminal in the Port of Genoa to get the ISPS International Code authorization for ships and port equipment.

The Company work as terminal operator also in Mombasa (Kenya), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Nacala and Maputo (Mozambico).