The Sino-Italian shipping collaboration would grow on the back of increasing synergies between Italy's Port of La Spezia and China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO), executives of the two entities said in La Spezia on July 10.

A new West Africa Service was launched by COSCO, the COSCO branch involved in container business, in the Port of La Spezia, Italy's second largest port for origin and final destination of goods, which boasts 1.3 million containers per year.

Three COSCO ships stopped from Monday to Wednesday in the La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT), moving over 4,000 TEUs.

The West Africa Service will add to a series of weekly services offered by COSCO from La Spezia to North America, the Far East, Australia, West Africa, Israel, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea, according to Marco Donati, General Manager of COSCO Italy.