The container terminal in Vado Ligure is strengthening its position in the Mediterranean with the introduction of the new WAF6 service operated by Maersk, a weekly maritime link between Europe and the main ports of West Africa. The arrival of the container ship Rhine Maersk, scheduled for Saturday 22 March 2025, will mark the official start of this route, with the Ligurian terminal as the only Italian stop included in the rotation.
Announced in February 2025 and launched in March, the WAF6 service represents a significant enhancement of trade routes between the Mediterranean basin and sub-Saharan Africa. The Vado Ligure terminal, managed by Vado Gateway under the control of APM Terminals, is confirming its growing centrality in international logistics, thanks to its modern, high-performance infrastructure, unique in the upper Tyrrhenian for its water depth and ability to accommodate next-generation vessels.
The Rhine Maersk, a 249-metre-long and 37-metre-wide vessel with a capacity of 4,600 TEU, is the first of four similar ships that will regularly call at the terminal's quay. In total, Maersk is deploying five vessels of around 5,000 TEU to operate the WAF6 service, having reorganised the fleet and removed a sixth unit thanks to improved management of transit times and sailing distances. Although these are not ULCS-class ships like the 14,000-TEU Emma Maersk, they offer an optimal balance between cargo capacity and operational flexibility in the African and European ports served by the route.
The service follows a complete route linking the Mediterranean to Africa and back. Southbound, the ships depart from Genoa and call at Tangier Med in Morocco, continue to Algeciras in Spain, and finally reach Tema in Ghana. Transit times between ports are designed to ensure weekly regularity and reliable journey durations, with average times of two days from Genoa to Tangier, one day to Algeciras, and eleven days to reach Tema.
On the northbound leg, the vessels depart from Tema to call at Apapa in Nigeria, then return to Tangier Med, with estimated sailing times of two days from Tema to Apapa and eleven days from Apapa to Tangier. Notably, the current configuration of the WAF6 is the result of a recent revision: in May 2024, the service had been temporarily extended to Port Said in Egypt to offset operational challenges in the Red Sea. This stop was later removed in February 2025 in favour of including Vado Ligure in the rotation, a decision that highlights the growing reliability and appeal of the Ligurian port.
The entry of Vado Gateway into the WAF6 network opens new opportunities for the national logistics system, offering a direct and stable connection with rapidly growing markets such as Ghana and Nigeria. Thanks to effective integration with northern Italy’s rail and road networks and the high technological standard of its infrastructure, the terminal positions itself as an ideal hub for import and export to and from West Africa, helping to strengthen Italy’s role in international trade.
