MEDITERRANEAN ports may lure trade from Hamburg and Rotterdam as upgraded rail links allow shipping lines to unload containers earlier in the journey from Asia and complete deliveries overland.
"Northern Europe's market share could be under threat in coming years as more cargo shifts south," said Mike Garratt, director of Box Trade Intelligence, which monitors 20 global trade lanes, in a Bloomberg report.
Trieste on the Adriatic is 22.5 days sailing from Singapore or seven days closer than Hamburg, according to AP Moeller-Maersk. The rail journey from the Italian port takes a few more days.
Mediterranean harbours benefit from slow steaming because it reduces fuel burn, thus compensating for the faster, but more expensive overland journeys.
Time saved compared with a journey to the North Sea via Gibraltar can cut transit times or allow even slower sailings, paring fuel use without impacting deliveries, said the report.