HISTORY
From Genoa to the world
The Gastaldi story began in 1860 with a shipping broker and agent looking beyond the port of Genoa. Since then, new generations have opened routes, built partnerships and entered new fields by applying the same practical instinct: understand what is changing and turn it into a way forward.
This is not a history of standing still. It is a record of movement, connection and adaptation across more than a century and a half.
From a Genoese idea to routes across the world
In 1860, Gian Battista Gastaldi began working in Genoa as a shipping broker and agent. The business started in the maritime world, connecting vessels, cargo and commercial opportunity from a port already open to international trade.
Alessandro Cerruti acquired the company in 1904 and helped expand its role in major maritime initiatives. Gastaldi represented Prince Line, part of the Furness Withy Group, carrying passengers and freight between the Mediterranean and North America.
Cerruti also took part in the foundation of Lloyd’s Sabaudo. Its transatlantic liners included Conte Verde, Conte Biancamano and Conte Rosso. For more than twenty-five years, the Cerruti family managed scheduled services linking Italy with North America, Africa, Australia and the Far East.
From sea routes to a new way of global connection
The wider Cerruti entrepreneurial story had long extended beyond shipping. It included Banco dei Fratelli Cerruti, founded in 1869 and later incorporated into Banca Commerciale Italiana in 1968; Liberty property developments in Genoa, Rome and Messina with architect Gino Coppedè; a metallurgical business in Sestri Ponente; and Cartiera Italiana in Turin.
In the 1950s, Gastaldi renewed its structure as civil aviation began to grow. The company collaborated with Linee Aeree Italiane, later integrated into ALITALIA, and became General Sales Agent for international carriers including Canadian Pacific, TWA, Varig, Qantas, South African Airways, VIASA and Ethiopian Airlines.
The mode of transport had changed, but the business instinct remained entirely unchanged: recognise a new connection early, build the right international relationships, establish long-term trust, and make it work in practice.
From new partnerships to 500 calls in one year
In the 1980s, Gastaldi formed a commercial alliance with a Soviet state shipping company and became a 50% partner in Dolphin Agenzia Marittima. More than 500 vessels called at the Port of Genoa in a single year, translating the partnership into visible activity on the waterfront.
The company also secured the representation of The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia. As Italian plant engineering expanded in Middle Eastern markets, the carrier supported combined cargo and exceptional loads moving from Italy to the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.
These relationships extended Gastaldi’s international reach by connecting market opportunity with the port knowledge and operational coordination required to deliver it.
From port operations to connected transport
At the end of the 1980s, Gastaldi joined the privatisation project for the Port of Genoa and helped establish Gruppo Investimenti Portuali, or GIP, with other partners. GIP won the tender for Terminal Contenitori Porto di Genova, leading to the creation of SECH, the Southern European Container Hub.
The Group developed further capabilities through LOGTAINER, focused on combined container transport, and NORDITALIA LOGISTICA, active in road transport. In 1993, a partnership with Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd of Seoul added another major international shipping relationship.
During the 1990s, Gastaldi also entered international freight forwarding, beginning with steel and later expanding across other commodity sectors. In 2008, GIP and Sinport agreed an exchange of stakes involving terminal activities in Genoa and Porto Marghera; GIP also acquired a majority stake in Terminal Darsena Toscana in Livorno. Its later investments included a minority stake in Tirrenia, supporting continuity of links for goods and passengers to Italy’s major islands.
A long history, still making new connections
Today, Gastaldi Group brings together specialist companies across sectors of movement and connection. Shipping and transport remain central to the story, joined by insurance, travel and tourism, and other activities developed through generations of entrepreneurship.
The value of that history is not age alone. It is the ability to recognise change, build relationships and adapt the organisation without losing practical judgement or personal accountability.
Family-owned Gastaldi Holding provides continuity and a long-term foundation. Across the Group, specialist companies use that strength to develop expertise, work together and turn new opportunities into progress for clients and partners.
The Gastaldi archive
Photographs, documents, vessels and places make the history tangible.
Every item should be dated, identified and linked to the decision or development it represents.
Continuity across generations
The foundation behind the Group
Discover how family stewardship and the structure of Gastaldi Holding support the Group’s long-term development, stability and capacity to keep adapting.
