December 29 - The sailing of the Grande Sicilia from Hamburg's Unikai Terminal on 27 December 2008 marked the start of calls at the port by Grimaldi Lines new Euro-Aegean service.

Together with its sister ship, the Grande Italia, the Grande Sicilia forms part of an enhanced overall service that now offers fortnightly departures from Hamburg. Ports of call in the Med and Aegean include Civitavecchia, Salerno, Piraeus, Beirut, Lattakia (on inducement), Gemlik and Alexandria.

The ships that are used can load of all types of ro-ro units, including vehicles, self-propelled construction machines, as well as conventional and project cargo with item weights of up to 75 tonnes, including any roll trailers that may be used.