OT Africa Line Representative Office 22 Quai Gallieni
92158 SURESNES CEDEX Tel: (+331) 55668219 Fax: (+333) 55668032
OT Africa Line Agency Offices - Feron
G. Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
Europe Building,
Quai de L'Europe,
BP 119,
76600 Le Havre,
France
Tel: (+332) 3525 5725 Fax: (+332) 3525 6860 E-mail:roselyne.poupel.lhv@sealogis.fr
G
Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
13 Boulevard Ney,
75018, Paris
France Tel: (+331) 4465 1251 Fax: (+331 )4465 1235 E-Mail: catillon.par@feron.fr
G. Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
1/7 place de la Republique,
59140, Dunkerque
France Tel: (+331) 4465 1251 Fax: (+331 )4465 1235 E-Mail: catillon.par@feron.fr
G Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
17A avenue Robert Schuman
13002 Marseille
France Tel: (+33) 491 399 921 or (+33) 491 399 397 Fax: (+33) 491 902 750 E-Mail: Pierre.tedesco@sealogis.fr or Lassala.biz@mar.feron.fr
G. Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
SFC 11 Rue Corroyeurs,
Lle Gutenberg,
BP 108 Strasbourg,
France Tel: (+333) 88269850 Fax: (+333) 88269851 E-Mail:manc.rettig.stb@sealogis.fr
Click
here for a list of all OT Africa Line agency offices
OT Africa Line Service Brochure
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For comprehensive details highlighting our service from France please
see our latest service
brochure.
Le Havre
Port Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------
General Information
Founded in 1517, the deep-water maritime port of Le Havre, situated
at the mouth of the Seine, is one of France's largest. Its ideal location and
excellent communications links provide good access to the European hinterland.
The Port of Le Havre is by far France's leading port for foreign trade, with
over 60 million tons of traffic, including 1,200,000 tons of TEU containers.
Le Havre is a major international transit port for fuel products, industrial
and foodstuff bulk cargo and general cargo. It plays an essential part for
the external trade of France and Europe.
As a deep-water seaport, Le Havre can receive containerships of up to 14 meters
draft and 6,000 TEU transport capacity in tidal dock. Cargo handling facilities
are numerous and include general, ore and bulk cargo berths, tanker and liquefied
gas terminals and specialised container and ro-ro berths. In addition, the
port benefits from extensive storage and warehouse facilities and is also a
major centre for ship-repair.
The port of Le Havre is managed by the Port Authority: which
is a state public body given legal status and financial autonomy, answerable
to the Minister
in charge of sea ports, and subject to the economic and financial control of
the State. 250 private companies work in the port of Le Havre in order to provide
the cargo and the ships with the different services.
Geographic Location
Located on the world busiest sea route through which a quarter
of the world cargo trade carried by sea goes in transit, Le Havre is the first
port of call
for large transoceanic mother-ships. The port of Le Havre provides the shortest
transport times for the commercial exchanges with all the other continents.
This
combination of shipping convenience and ideal geographic location makes Le
Havre the only port in Europe where shipowners can be certain
their vessels
will always be fully loaded.
The port of Le Havre is accesible via an outer fairway 12 Km long and 300
m wide, lying at 107 in relation to the inner harbour , dredged to datum height
( - 15.50 m) in relation to the lowest tide level.
Tankers with a draught of up to 21 metres can enter the harbour at high tide.
Tankers with a draught of up to 29 metres get access to the port of Antifer
located some twenty kilometres north of Le Havre and designed to berth the
world largest oil tankers of 500,000 tonnes deadweight.
One dedicated shed : Hangar 104 12,000 sqm shed space located close
to the terminal (all transport costs from to shed / terminal are included
in CFS rates).
Please note that OTAL operates from two terminals in Le Havre
as follows:
Terminal de Bougainville: roro & cars & general cargo
Terminal de l'Asie: containers
Please note that all containers should be delivered to the Terminal de l'Asie
in Le Havre regardless of the service.
Port terminals are directly connected to the national railway
lines, SNCF which can transport any kind of goods anywhere in France. The
Port of Le Havre is also connected to France's main financial and trade centers
by the "Combi 24".
The port is also linked to the railway lines of "Qualitynet" (ICF)
offering an average of sixty trains per day, serving over thirty destinations
in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, and
Portugal.
Did you know that OTAL can offer container equipment in strategic locations
within France?
OTAL's equipment department maintains a stock of 20' & 40' dry van containers
at inland depots indicated below.
As part of our on-going development plan in France, we have set up this network
to provide a better service to customers loading cargo in and around these
areas. Previously containers would have been positioned around France on request.
Now containers can be delivered from one of the area inland depots to the shippers
point of loading.
This means savings to the customer in terms of time and inland transport costs.
Once loaded, containers will be transported to the nearest port
- Le Havre or Antwerp - where OTAL provides frequent sailings to West Africa.
Grand Port
Maritime de Marseille
----------------------------------------------------------------------
General Information
The Grand Port Maritime de Marseille/Fos is a public body since 1965. It officially
opened only the 01/04/66 and obtained the “Grand Port maritime” status
in 2008.
The Port of Marseilles-Fos (also called the Fos-sur-Mer) lies
on the shores of the Golfe de Fos, an inlet of the Gulf of Lion, on France’s
Mediterranean coast about 38km northwest of Marseille. It stretches about 70km
on the coast
from, east to west, from Old-Port of Marseille (Le Vieux-Port) to Port Saint-Louis
du Rhone.
The Port of Fos-sur-Mer was first a small fishing and farming
village, but it was transformed when a major industrial zone was built nearby
in the 1960s.
The Port of Fos-sur-Mer has become the center for Marseille’s bulk cargo
and container traffic. Its major import is crude oil that goes to refineries
in Fos and the Etang-de-Berre salt lagoon. Other major imports include coking
coal, iron, and liquefied natural gas. The Port of Fos-sur-Mer is also home
to some light manufacturing and services.
•
1st port of France and the Mediterranean
•
3rd Port worldwide for crude oil
•
4th European port
•
Nearly 45 millions of tones have transited by Marseille ports for the first
semester 2010.
Western harbor and Eastern harbor
The Western Harbor – Fos-sur-Mer
The Western harbor was founded in 1973. It is situated in the Gulf of Fos,
mouth of the Rhone. It was created to receive Panamax containership (average
capacity of 3500 TEU, 47000 Tones) and optimized to receive “over-Panamax” containerships.
Since 2006, the Fos terminal handles “over-Panamax” containerships
(capacity of 8000 TEU, 97500 tones).
Facilities
- 5 berths, 1175 quay meters
- Draught : 14.5 meters. Excellent access condition, no high tide, no fog.
- Storage capacity : 750000 containers
- 6 over-panamax gantry cranes equipped with simple spreaders and twin-lifts
spreaders
- 2 panamax gantry cranes, capacity of 40 tones
The containers storage park is equipped:
- Reefers facilities
- Inter-borders phytosanitary checkpoint
- Containers X-Ray checkpoint
The area is highly secured.
The Eastern harbor – Marseille Mourepiane
Created in 1990 to receive panama containerships (average capacity 3500 TEUs,
47000 tones). This terminal is situated in Marseille.
Facilities
- 5 berths, 952 quay meters
- Draught : between 10.5 and 11.5 meters
- Storage capacity : more than 250000 containers per year (350000 TEUs)
- 5 panamax gantry cranes equipped with 2 twins lifts spreaders
- Storage area : 7800 TEUs
The Port Management
The port of Marseille is managed by the Port Authority: which is a state
public body given legal status and financial autonomy, answerable to the
Minister
in charge of sea ports, and subject to the economic and financial control
of the State.
Sphere of influence – a natural gateway to Europe
The Grand Port Maritime de Marseille has an ideal geographic location. It is
situated between Eastern and Western lines. It is the heart of European market.
The Rhone Valley offers an exceptional connection in the dynamic heart of
Europe. It is a southern land bridge to the European market.
Provence and Rhone Valley make up its main hinterland. Thanks
to a huge communication network (roads, rails, oil pipeline, gas pipeline)
wares can be distributed
in northern Europe. So Marseille ports, north ports and the Channel ports
are highly competitive.
- Connection by rail : several companies as SNCF, Veolia,
Naviland Cargo, Rail link Europe, Eurocargorail.
- Connection by river : Rhone Valley
- Connection by road : Marseille is connected to the main European motorway.
Marseille/Fos : to Spain, to Italy, to UK, to Germany, to Belgium, to Switzerland…
Port News ----------------------------------------------------------------------
CMA CGM and APM Terminals Announce New Terminal Agreements
In Dunkirk, France - 08/07/10
Terminal Link, CMA CGM?s subsidiary dedicated to container terminal investment,
has increased its shares in Nord France Terminal International [NFTI] from
30% to 91% through the acquisition of APM Terminals 61% share. The other 9%
remain owned by the Port Authority of Dunkirk. NFTI operates a container terminal
with modern super post panamax gantry cranes providing its customers with direct
road, rail and barge access to Northern France, Paris region and Central Europe.
[CMA-CGM 08/07/10]
Le Havre Port To Build Canal Linking To Seine - 28/06/10
The port of Le Havre [GPMH] has announced its intention to continue its project
to build a canal linking the Seine to its facilities after a recent public
debate. The GPMH will undertake detailed studies on 4-options whose cost
varies between €150-250 million. The capacity of this channel is set
to double that of Tancarville Canal, which already provides a service linking
to the Seine. Among the options under consideration is a plan to delay
construction of the new channel and redevelop the Tancarville Canal to
allow an increase
in traffic. This option is one of the most expensive but according GPMH
is advocated by environmentalists who oppose a new channel due to the damage
its construction would do natural environments in the surrounding area.
[PAH
28/06/10]
APM Terminals In Talks To Sell Dunkirk Stake - 03/06/10
APM Terminals is in talks to sell its 61% stake in the NFTI container terminal
at French port Dunkirk to fellow shareholder Terminal Link, the box hub operator
owned by CMA CGM. Terminal Link currently holds a 29% stake, with Port of
Dunkirk having 10%. The potential sell-off would be consistent with APMT’s “active
portfolio management” strategy which has seen it sell off or dilute
stakes in non-core terminal businesses since the beginning of this year.
Dunkirk handled 212,000 teu in 2009, virtually unchanged from
the previous year, mainly at the NFTI terminal which has 2,000m of quay and
can handle container
ships of 16.5m draught. The terminal took delivery of two super post-panamax
cranes in 2008, making five in total, while last year saw major works undertaken
to renovate the wharf storage areas. NFTI has box service links to the Caribbean,
the South Pacific, the east coast US and West Africa.
Industry observers suggest that Dunkirk has become a marginal
facility for APMT, which has sizeable north European investments in Zeebrugge
and Rotterdam.
APMT is also involved in Germany’s Jade-Weser port at Wilhemshaven – set
to open in 2012 - which will be a major deepwater container hub for the world’s
largest boxships. [LL 03/06/10]
Delivery Of 4 New Gantries At Port 2000 Terminal Du France
Le Havre - 05/05/10
On 05/05/10, the port of Le Havre received four new container gantries at
the Terminal of France of operator Générale de Manutention Portuaire
[GMP] in Port 2000. Startups in 2006, new installations of Port 2000 allowed
to ensure it development of the traffic of containers to the port of Harbour.
As a terminal operator of of France, the General one of Harbour Handling -
GMP - is directly at the origin of this growth. Brought into service in April
2006, the Terminal of France currently extends on 700 meters of quay, equipped
with 6 gantries super post panamax and 3 railway gantries. Strong of the confidence
gained near its customers, the GMP thus centers the optimization of its competitiveness
on its development. Work of the 2nd phase of Port 2000, realized under control
of work of the Large Seaport of Le Havre, allow the operators to invest and
increase them capacity for treatment. With the Terminal of France, four new
gantries ZPMC [Chinese manufacturer] thus arrived this day: they left Shanghai
on March 3 last aboard the ship “Zhen Hua 14”, and should be brought
into service at the beginning of the summer. With this new stage of development,
the General one of Harbour Handling thus joined the club of the large operators
north-Europeans of container terminals, with a total offer of 10 gantries super
post railway panamax and 3 gantries on its Terminal of France with Port 2000.
She answers thus waiting of her customers as regards “berth productivity” [productivity
of the stations with quay].
Le Havre Enters Final Stage Of Port Reform - 29/03/10
Le Havre port says it will be ready to present a “new face” to
the world by September when it expects to have completed the final stage of
implementation of the French government?s port reform.The port is the first
in France to openly pitch itself into the post-reform era after a long and
arduous struggle over the reform between the seven leading ports concerned
by it and the ports and docks federation of the CGT union confederation. It
has still to complete the final stage of the reform through conclusion of an
agreement with its unions regarding the transfer of port authority terminal
personnel to the payrolls of terminal operators but claims that it already
has the basis for a “good” agreement. Commercial and marketing
director Hervé Cornede said that he was confident that negotiations
with the unions would be completed by June in time for the port to begin a
new commercial offensive in September.
The leading port workers? union, the ports and docks federation
of the CGT union confederation, claims that the local agreement does not offer
enough
improvements on the national framework agreement concluded in October 2008
but it recently called off a 1-day strike it had called at the port to defend
its position. Some 220 gantry and other plant operators are expected to be
involved in the transfers, which represent the final and most sensitive stage
of implementation of the reform, which was given legal status by legislation
passed in July 2008.
Agreement on the other sensitive phase of the reform - the transfer
of port-owned terminal equipment to terminal operators - has already been concluded
between
the port authority and terminal operators. The port is waiting for completion
of the final legal formalities before announcing the details but the negotiations
on the terms of the transfers have been completed, according to Mr Cornede.
The port?s intends to give its marketing drive extra force by joining forces
with the inland ports of Rouen and Paris to market itself under the “greater
Paris” label, which allows the three conurbations to present themselves
as “one city”. The three ports have already begun working together.
Work
is also well advanced on the improvement of the port?s rail and inland waterway
links, while the latest extension of the port?s Port 2000
container facility is due to be handed over to terminal operators in the
summer. [LL 29/03/10]
Rouen Dredging Tender - 28/03/10
A tender has been opened by Dragages-Ports on 27/03/10 for works in the seaport
district of Greater Nantes St-Nazaire and the district of Port of Bayonne.
The deadline for all tenders has been set for 28/04/10. [28/03/10]
Le Havre Port 2000 - 18/01/10
Le Havre port closed the second phase of its Port 2000 construction project
in the spring of 2009. A fifth berth was completed in July and in November
berths 6 and 7 were delivered. The terminal can now receive ten ships and
a handling capacity of 4 million containers. Double the total traffic carried
in 2009.
Phase three of Port 2000 is currently suspended due to the economic crisis
with no candidate to claim the two additional quays. And a lock on the river
is still under consideration as well as construction of a dam in order to delvelop
river traffic. A multimodal development on the Grand Canal is also expected
to be in service by 2012 but is under public debate as well as building a gas
terminal at Antifer to diversify bulk liquid facilities. [Ouest France 18/01/10]
Marseilles Fos Container Traffic Grew in 2009 - 01/02/10
Container traffic through France’s Port of Marseilles Fos rose by 4%
during 2009, bucking the port’s overall 13.3% decline in tonnage volume.
Container throughput increased to 882,580 20-foot containers for all of 2009,
compared to the previous year. The growth in container volume was restricted
to the deep-sea terminal at Fos, which specializes in the East-West trades.
Throughput at Fos rose by 22% to 693,712 TEUs – close to the record 716,000
TEUs of 2007. Several other factors helped the improvement at Fos. In 2008
its traffic was hit by anti-reform strikes and the first effects of the economic
crisis, while last year it gained business from the Mourepiane terminal in
Marseilles -- which handles mainly intra- Mediterranean trades -- when shipowners
switched to avoid reform-based strikes during the first half. [JOC 01/02/10]
Le Harve Port Hit By Industrial Action - December 2009
Le Havre port has been hit by a number of 24-hour strikes by French dockers
that brought container traffic to a halt at Le Havre and Marseille. The CGT
union withdrew all 1,800 freight workers in Le Havre in an attempt to increase
pressure on the government to boost job creation at ports affected by the
terminal privatisations planned as part of its port reform.
Under a law adopted in July 2008, France's 7-major ports are
turning to private companies to run many of their services in a move to make
them more competitive.
The ports and docks federation of the CGT union confederation began its campaign
of industrial action last year after claiming that the government had failed
to respond adequately to its complaints that the port reform currently in
progress was not bringing the new job opportunities which the government promised.
It
said it had seen none of the 30,000 jobs promised by the government as a
result of the reform and that, in the meantime, the leading French ports were
discreetly
running down their workforces, notably through non-replacement of departing
employees. It claimed that, instead of investing new funds in port development,
the government was simply supporting existing projects.
Le Havre Port 2000 Update - December 2009
During the month of November berths 6 & 7 of phase 2 were delivered to
the Terminal Porte Ocean [TPO]. Work on a connecting railway will accompany the
development of these berths. Phase 2: Dredging;
Phase 2 also included the dredging of the front wall of the berths. Work was
subcontracted to SEMENT-TP and included the removal of material from the
protective tidal dam. All works should be completed
by Christmas.
Marseilles To Freeze 2010 Port Tariffs - 11/12/09
Despite being one of the few ports actually reporting an increase in container
traffic so far this year [+5% year-on-year during
the first 9-months, to 661,000 TEU], Marseilles will freeze its 2010 port tariffs
at current levels. It should be noted that this
rise was largely attributed to a significant drop in box handlings last year,
following prolonged labour unrest at the port inconnection with the French port reform bill. [DY 11/12/09]
Box Throughput Shrinks At Le Havre - 22/10/09
Container traffic at France’s leading container port of Le Havre was
down 8% to 1.7m TEU at the end of the first 9-months of the year. In tonnage
terms, the result was comparable, with container traffic down 9% to 18m tonnes
at the end of the third quarter. The port said that its traffic generally had
been marked by the impact of the world economic crisis, with an overall traffic
total for the first nine months down 6% to 55.4m tonnes. It noted, however,
that last year’s results had been distorted by industrial action over
the government’s port reform, which made comparisons with this year difficult
to make. [LL 22/10/09]
Signs Of Recovery At Marseilles Fos - 19/09/09
Container throughput at Marseilles Fos reached 583,779 TEU to the end of August,
a 4% increase on the first 8-months of last year. While intra-Mediterranean
trades saw container volumes via the Marseilles eastern harbour drop by a 33%,
the deepsea Fos terminal saw a 23% rise in traffic to 458,219 TEU. Container
tonnage was 3% better on 5.75 Mt and helped general cargo to 9.52MT. This was
down 8% for the period, with ro-ro volumes lagging 9% on 2.73 Mt and conventional
trades still 40% down on 1.04 Mt, although demand for steel products revived
in August.
Total cargo throughput at the port remained 13% down on last
year at 55.69 Mt despite further signs of recovery in August. The port has
previously
acknowledged that its container figures are distorted by the industrial disruption
during the first half of 2008, which led to calls being diverted elsewhere.
All the same, the recovery at Fos cannot be completely explained by this and
there seems to be a genuine uptake in east-west trades over the port. Last
year the port's overall container traffic fell by 15% and 16% in unit and tonnage
terms respectively to 847,651 TEU and 8.4 Mt, while in 2007 it was a TEU "millionaire" for
the first time. It looks as though it is heading back that way. [WCN 19/09/09]
Dunkerque Port Inaugurates Barreau De Saint-Georges
Railway - 19/09/09
The 7.4km Barreau de Saint-Georges railway link, the first to be built by the
Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque [GPMD], was inaugurated on 08/10/09. The railway
line was built with the twofold objective of increasing the capacity at departure
from the Western Bulk Terminal and anticipating the excavation of the port’s
new docks. The line is connected to Calais-Dunkirk railway, only 5km from France’s
main freight rail station [Grande-Synthe]. A total of 14 MT of goods are carried
annually by rail in the industrial port area of Dunkirk, corresponding to 12%
of national freight traffic.
The project had carried out by the Réseau Ferré de France [French
Railway Network], the Northern General Council and the Port at a total of €23.6
million.
Future GPMD projects include the 2007-2013 State-Regional Project
Contract, of the electrification and modernisation of the Calais-Dunkirk line,
which should promote the development of rail logistics between the ports of
Dunkirk, Calais and the Channel Tunnel. An investment programme of €61.5
M has been set aside for the electrification of the Saint-Georges Link; connection
of the Western Port and the Maritime Dock; extension and electrification of
the Loon-Plage sidings and re-establishment of the link between the Eastern
Port and the Maritime Dock.
Main European Ports Report First Half Results - 14/08/09
Le Havre reports just a 1.7% fall in overall traffic in the first semester,
to 38.2 Mt. Liquid bulks rose by 1.4% compared to the first six months of 2008
to 23.9 Mt. Dry bulk traffic increased by 2.1% to 2.3 Mt, due to increases
in sand, gravel and crushed stone volumes. Containerised tonnage was 10.8 Mt
compared to 11.9 Mt in the corresponding period in 2008, with units down by
8% to 1.1M TEU. Last year's figures were lower than they should have been due
to containership calls diverted to Antwerp because of industrial action in
Le Havre tied to disputes over the national port reform laws. Hence the underlying
fall in container traffic at Le Havre this year is greater than it appears.
In all, around 3200 ship calls were recorded since the beginning of the year
[+ 1%]. [WCN 18/07/09]
Marseilles Settles Box Terminal Row - 29/07/09
The port of Marseilles has finally negotiated an end to the dispute which has
been disrupting activity at its eastern docks Mourepiane container terminal
for the last 6-weeks. The settlement allows the port to proceed with plans
to hand over the operation of the terminal to Intramar, a local subsidiary
of CMA CGM-DP World joint venture Portsynergy, and to transfer its own personnel
at the terminal to the company. To gain the support of its personnel for
the transfer, however, it has had to agree to take a 34% blocking minority
stake in Intramar’s capital. The port authority said that the agreement
enabled it to improve on the job security guarantees contained in a national
agreement concluded between the
CGT union confederation and port employers last year. It added that it was
also a gage of its support for the maintenance of cargo-handling activity in
the port’s eastern docks.
The union had expressed concerns about a recent
rundown in activity at the eastern docks container terminal, where intra-Mediterranean
traffic is concentrated.
It has come under increasing pressure to drop its opposition to the transfer
of port authority terminal personnel to the payroll of Intramar, however,
as a result of the decision of port authority employees at Marseilles’ Fos
deepwater complex to break away from the joint union branch to which they had
previously belonged with their colleagues in Marseilles. They have set up their
own structure and have indicated that they are ready to go along with the plant
and personnel transfers planned at Fos under the government’s reform
of France’s major ports. [LL 29/07/09]
Le Havre Port Workers Set For Private Sector Transfer
This Year - 30/06/09
Le Havre port has announced a plan to transfer around 330 port authority-employed
terminal personnel to private-sector terminal operating companies by the
end of the year. The transfers, which are being carried out under the terms
of the government’s port reform, concern just over half of the 640
people employed in the port’s plant department. Following negotiations
with the port authority, terminal operators have agreed to take on 230 crane
drivers and some 100 maintenance staff “on detachment”. About
150 other plant department employees will remain at their posts with the
port authority and another 20 will be transferred to a standalone maintenance
subsidiary but 100 others will be offered early retirement or alternative
work.
All the port’s leading terminal operators have confirmed their wish to
pursue their activities on the basis of renegotiated operating agreements with
a life of 26-36 years. They have also agreed to pay a combined €26.3m
[$37m] for terminal plant, buildings and yard space still owned by the port
authority. The agreements reached by the port authority and terminal operators
are due to be ratified during the third quarter subject to the approval of
the terms of sale agreements by a national evaluation committee. The port hoped
that all the personnel transfers would be able to be realised from 01/01/10.
[LL 30/06/09]
Marseilles Container Traffic Soars - 13/07/09
Container traffic at Marseilles surged 35% in June from a year ago on new services
and fewer strikes. France’s biggest port handled 72,308 TEUs last month
compared with 53,408 TEUs in June 2008, leaving box traffic in the first half
3% higher at 435,396 TEUs. Overall traffic slipped 7% in June to 6.87 million
tonnes, a significant improvement on the 23% year-on-year decline in May that
left first half volume 10% lower at 41.4 million tonnes against 47.6 million
tonnes in the same period in 2008.
Most of the gain reflects the fact that traffic slumped in the first half of
2008 as dockers staged rolling strikes to protest government plans to reform
French ports.
General cargo fell 10% to 1.17 million tonnes in June from 1.29 million tonnes
a year ago, shrinking first half traffic also by 10% to just over 7-million
tonnes. This contrasts with a 20% decline in general cargo in the Le Havre-Hamburg
port range and 17% in major southern European ports in the first half of 2009
and a 30% slump in Marseilles’ closest rival Barcelona in May. [JOC 13/07/09]
Marseilles Port Ready To Buy Into Intramar- 07/07/09
Marseilles is now facing a renewed threat to container traffic as dockers at
the Mourepiane terminal protest plans to transfer workers from the port authority
payroll to private stevedore Intramar. The port has proposed acquiring a 30-35%
stake in Intramar, owned by Portsynergy a joint venture between CMA CGM and
DP World, in a bid to resolve the dispute.
Port authority-employed crane drivers and maintenance staff have been staging
industrial action for several weeks, in an attempt to prevent the transfers
taking place. Their union cites concerns over the future of the port’s
city centre eastern docks. As such the union has told the two operators, Portsynergy
subsidiary Eurofos and Seayard that it wants them to set up a common structure
for the acquisition of six of its eight container gantries at the terminal.
[LL 07/07/09]
Marseilles Acquires Stake in Rhone Valley Hub - 11/07/09
The Port of Authority of Marseilles-Fos, France, acquired a 10% stake in
the Pagny Terminal, an inland multimodal hub at the northern end of the
Rhone-Saone
corridor between Chalon and Dijon, France. The stake provides enhanced rail
access to markets in southern Germany and Switzerland. [JOC 11/07/09]
Dunkerque Port Undertakes Further Repair Work - 16/07/09
As part of the economic recovery plan, Dunkerque Port has undertaken a programme
of works costing 8 million euros, funded 75% by the State and 25% by the
Port. The first phase of this programme, which concerned the renovation
and compliance
with safety standards of the port roads in the Eastern Port, was completed
in May 2009. A second phase involves other works that are currently in
progress: repair and corrosion protection of the Escaut Quay, protection
of metal-
structure quays, repairs to the ferry terminal access road, repair of Watier
and De Gaulle
locks, etc. Calls for tender are in progress for the next phase of this programme [renovation of the Huttes railway line, continuation of the
De Gaulle and Watier locks repair programme, continuation of the port roads
renovation programme]. [Dunkerque Port 16/07/09]
Marseilles Fos Targets Pagny Landbridge - 15/06/09
The Port of Marseilles-Fos has acquired a 10% stake in Pagny Terminal, situated
at the northern end of the
Rhone-Saone corridor between Chalon and Dijon in France. Only barge and rail
services for bulk cargo
currently connect the two gateways, but plans are in the pipeline to commence
container services soon. [CI15/06/09]
Post Reform Growth Targets Set Out By French Ports -
08/06/09
Targets of the 5-year strategic plans [2009-2013] of three of France’s
Grands Ports Maritimes [GPMs], Marseille, Le Havre and Dunkirk, have been
drawn up in accordance with the July 2008 ports reform law,
following approval by their respective Supervisory Boards.
GPM de Marseille-Fos’ target is to hit 120 Mtpa by 2013 [and 150 Mtpa
by 2020] compared to 96 Mt in 2008.
This includes 5M TEU of container traffic in 2020 [850,000 TEU in 2008] and
17 Mt of dry bulk traffic in 2013
[13 Mt in 2008] and 22 Mtpa by 2020. Ro-ro traffic in the Marseilles harbour
area is expected to grow from 4
Mt in 2008 to 5.5 Mt by 2013 and 7 Mt by 2020. Alongside new or extended ore
and cereals plants, future action also focuses on multimodal and environmental
initiatives. [WCN 08/06/09]
French Union Warns Of Fresh Port Reform Battle - 24/03/09
France's leading port workers’ union has warned that it is ready start
a new battle over the government’s
national port reform as port authorities try to complete their plans for its
application before the end of next
month.
The CGT union confederation / Confédération générale
du travail [www.cgt.fr], which staged several months
of industrial action over the reform last year before reaching an agreement
with employers in the autumn,
said that it was ready to launch fresh “large scale” industrial
action if the plans were forced through to the
detriment of its members’ jobs and earnings. The reform provides for
the transfer of port authority terminal
personnel to third-party terminal operating companies but the union claimed
that the economic downturn had
rendered the transfers largely inoperable.
It said terminal operators were looking to buy up port authority
terminal plant at rock-bottom prices but, under
pressure from falling cargo volumes, to take on a minimum number of additional
personnel.
A number of French ports have been disrupted by industrial action
by port authority personnel in recent
weeks. Worst affected have been the port of Marseilles’ eastern docks
[www.marseille-port.fr], where
personnel have been staging industrial action on almost a daily basis over
a period of weeks in an attempt to
keep terminal activities there under the control of the port authority. At
the port of Nantes-Saint Nazaire,
which has also suffered heavy disruption by industrial action this month, port
management have indicated
that they are ready to strike a compromise with the CGT over the operation
of the Montoir container terminal
and plant maintenance services. [LL 24/03/09]
Marseilles 2008 Traffic Slightly Down - 16/01/09
French cargo port Marseilles-Fos succeeded in nearly matching its 2007 traffic
total last year, despite
double-digit reductions in general cargo and container throughput. The port
closed the year with a traffic total
just 0.3% down at 96m tonnes, as liquid and solid bulks made up for a 12%
fall in general cargo to 15.2m
tonnes. General cargo suffered the double impact of protracted industrial
action by port authority personnel
during the first half of the year, and the decline in world trade, notably
with Asia, in the second half.
Container traffic fell 15% to 847,651 teu but, at the Fos deep water terminal,
where mainline east-west
container traffic is handled, throughput was down 21% to 569,203 TEU. The
port’s
eastern docks in
Marseilles, where Mediterranean and Black Sea traffic is handled, were less
severely affected, recording a
3% reduction in traffic to 279,448 TEU. Ro-ro traffic, which is also concentrated
at the eastern docks, alsoperformed relatively well, showing a 1% increase
at 4.4m tonnes. [LL 16/01/09]
Le Havre Port Strikes End - 04/11/08
We are
pleased to announce strikes at Le Havre & Montoir have now been
cancelled. Strikes have been on-going since April 2008. The situation is
now back to normal.
Unionized dockworkers and port employers have signed an agreement
paving the way for the privatization of container handling at France’s seven state-controlled
ports, including top box hubs Le Havre and Marseilles. The deal, required under
a port reform plan adopted by the French parliament in July, calls for the
transfer of around 2,000 container crane operators and maintenance workers
from port authorities’ payrolls to private stevedores.
The agreement marks
a major victory for French President Nicolas Sarkozy who refused to abandon
or water down the reforms despite 3-months of weekly 24-hour
strikes by dockworkers earlier this year that crippled ocean container traffic
across the nation’s ports. The reforms, which will be phased in from
mid-January, also call for port authorities to transfer port equipment, such
as gantry cranes and straddle carriers, to private companies within two years.
The government has pledged to invest 445 million euros [$570 million] between
now and 2012 to modernize port infrastructure.
The
unions called off their strikes in July after port employers gave assurances
on working conditions for the workers transferred to private stevedores.
All other dockworkers became employees of private stevedores under a 1992
agreement that followed a 170-day strike at France’s main ports.
The government
says the reforms will improve the competitiveness of French ports and boost
their combined annual traffic from 3.6 million TEUs in 2007
to 10 million TEUs by 2015. France’s share of Europe’s container
traffic has slumped from around 12% in 1989 to just over 6% in 2006, with half
its imports now passing through foreign ports.
The seven ports affected by the
reforms are Marseilles, Le Havre, Dunkirk, Rouen, Nantes-St Nazaire, Bordeaux
and La Rochelle.
Port 2000 2nd Phase Well Underway - 01/10/08
Construction work for the 2nd phase of Port 2000 is well in progress. The project
involves the completion of
six new quay berths providing an additional 2,100m of quay to compliment the
existing 1,400m. The
additional berths will consist of numbers 6-10 at the Terminal Porte Océane
[TPO] covering a total of 1,750m
and berth number 5 located east of the Terminal de France [TDF] at a length
of 350m.
The delivery of these berths is scheduled between mid-2009 and mid-2010. Works
are covered by the
Soletanche Bachy France - Atlantique Dragage-Koskalis consortium, and broken
into three simultaneous
public contracts carried out at a total amount of Euro216 million:
1. berths 6, 7 and 8 started in July 2007
2. berth 5 started in October 2007
3. berths 9 and 10 started in January 2008. [PLH 01/10/08]
EU Backs Marseilles-Fos Terminal - 28/10/08
The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide US$125 million in financing
for construction of the Fos
2XL container terminal at the Port of Marseilles-Fos in the south of France.
The project, which is creating two
new terminals due to come on-stream in 2010, will increase capacity from
1 million TEUs per year to 2.5
million TEUs.
The loan represents 48% of the US$263 million in total public funding for
Fos 2XL and will be available in
several tranches over a 3-year period. The port is financing 26%, or US$69
million of the cost, and the
remaining 26% is coming from the French government and regional authorities.
Construction work on the 3,280-foot berth, which started in
2007, is nearing completion and a second phase
of dredging is due to start by the end of the year. Development of landside
infrastructure is due to start in
mid-2009 and will be undertaken by the terminal's private operators,
Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Port
Synergy, a joint venture between CMA CGM and DP World of Dubai. [JOC
28/10/08]
Dunkirk Ups Crane Capacity - October 2008
The port of Dunkirk in northern France is now in a much better position
to boost its container throughput, following the delivery of two more super-post-panamax ship-to-shore gantry
cranes.
Dunkirk Offers Lille/Dourge Shuttle - October 2008
Dunkirk’s NFTlou Container Terminal has received its first port call
from a new service by River Shuttle Containers [RSC www.rsc.fr] with services
to the inner harbours of Lille LCT and Dourges LDCT. RSC has signed an agreement
with French Customs for the transport of containers in accordance with Fluvial-Maritime
Procedure. A CMA-CGM group company, River Shuttle Containers provides regular
container line service on the Seine, Rhône and Saône Rivers, making
it the ideal partner for door-to-door river shipping.
French Ports: New Appointments - 12/09/08
The French council of ministers has confirmed the appointments of new directors
at three of France’s leading ports but has yet to fill the vacancy
at the leading container port of Le Havre:
· Marseilles: Jean-Claude Terrier, former
director general of the Port of Dunkirk, has been confirmed as the successor
of Guy Janin, who has retired.
· Dunkirk: Mr Terrier is to be succeeded by Martine Bonny, currently director
general of the Port of Rouen
· Rouen: Philippe Deiss, director general of the Port of Bordeaux, is
to replace Martine Bonny.
· Le Havre: Following the departure of Le Havre director general Jean-Marc
Lacave for the CMA CGM shipping group, his successor is now expected to be decided
at a meeting of the port authority board, scheduled for next 19/09/08. Favourite
for the post is former Port of Rouen executive Vincent Pourquery de Boisserin,
who is head of infrastructure at France’s Centre regional authority. [LL
12/09/08]
Contacts
and Links
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G. Feron - E de Clebsattel SA
Europe Building,
Quai de L'Europe,
BP 119,
76600 Le Havre,
France Tel: (+332) 3525 5725 Fax: (+332) 3525 6860 Website: www.sealogis.com
Port Autonome Du Havre / Port of Le Havre Authority
Terre Plein de la Barre
BP 1413
76067 Le Havre Cedex Tel: (+33) 232747400 Fax: (+33) 232747429 E-mail:internetpah@havre-port.fr
