The Grimaldi family’s links with the sea date back to before the creation of the Group, to 1348, when the chronicles of the Kingdom of Naples recount that the brothers Rajinerio, Richerio and Perino de Grimaldis were given a precious relic in solid gold by Queen Giovanna I, as a guarantee to charter three of their ships.
During the 60' and 70', Achille Grimaldi became the owner of Europe’s most important privately owned fleet.
Post-war immigration was at its peak and Grimaldi’s shipping services focused on the Mediterranean/South America route.
In the years that followed, as the passengers’ demands for comfort and quality increased, the fleet was upgraded to include new, modern liners.
In the 1960s the Group began to strengthen its freight operations with bulk freighters and tankers.
The expansion in the Ro/Ro sector and, more specifically, in the transport of vehicles came in 1969, when the Group started operating regular liner services linking Italy and the United Kingdom. The Grimaldi Group’s car carrier services rapidly won the trust of the major vehicle manufacturers, who needed to ship their vehicles between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
This development marks the beginning of the Group’s modern period: over the last forty years the focus on the Ro/Ro sector has in fact been the driving factor for growth. At the same time, the Group expanded its service network to serve not only the Mediterranean/Northern Europe trades, but also the routes between Northern Europe and West Africa and between Northern Europe and South America.