Marseilles Fos News

Container throughput at French port Marseilles Fos reached 876,711 teu for the period January to September, an increase of 6% on the first nine months last year. The performance - driven by a 9% rise at the Fos 2XL deep sea terminals - was two points better than the trend at other French ports, the port authority said. Container tonnage contributed 8.5 million metric tons to the general cargo total of 13.3MT, with the balance coming from 2.8MT of ro-ro traffic – down 7% - and just over 2MT in conventional trades (+2%).

The Marseilles Fos port authority said it is targeting mid-2015 to complete the €28 million renovation of its giant drydock 10 to provide a strategically located base for cruise ship repair and maintenance. At 465 meters long and 85 metrs wide - the third biggest in the world after Lisbon and Dubai – the drydock will offer a unique facility for the latest-generation fleet in the Mediterranean, where 65% of the world’s largest cruise vessels operate. These include ships of up to 360 meters that currently call at Marseilles.

First-half container traffic at leading French port Marseilles Fos totalled 583,287 teu – up 7% on the first six months last year - marked by a 10% increase at the deepsea Fos terminals. Dry bulk and cruise passenger volumes also rose significantly, the port announced today, but total cargo throughput fell 6% to 38.23 million metric tons as oil trades continued to decline in line with market trends. The container performance drove a 2% rise in general cargo to 8.88MT. Conventional traffic contributed 1.41MT with a 3% improvement led by incoming project cargo…

Six partners led by the Marseilles Fos port authority have formed the Mourepiane combined transport terminal company (MTTC) to help finance and manage construction of the port’s long-planned intermodal upgrade development in the Marseilles harbor area. The €60.5 million project will create a high-performance base improving links and pre/post-dispatch handling between Mourepiane container terminal and the adjacent railhead. The new facility will also serve other Marseilles quays, with their current multimodal site at Canet being transferred to the Euromediterranee urban renewal scheme. Construction will start in summer 2015. The terminal is due on stream in mid-2017 and will be operated by a purpose-formed company of Marseilles and France-based multimodal specialists.

Rail operator Naviland Cargo is lifting the frequency of its Marseilles Fos-Strasbourg service from three to five round trips per week by the end of the year. Naviland announced the upgrade when more than 90 Alsace-based shippers and transport professionals attended a presentation in Strasbourg by promotional body Via Marseilles Fos (VMF) – formed by the port authority, port users and the chamber of commerce – which was hosting its first event in the key hinterland region. With 10 trains per week serving Strasbourg…

Bigger container ships are resulting in much greater peaks in container terminal activity, which together with the ever larger combined volumes of bigger alliances, demands fewer, larger terminals in each port. Terminal operators are reacting by consolidating terminal layouts and ownership – and by working more closely together – but what are the consequences for their customers? Drewry Maritime Research discuss in this extract from their latest 'Container Insight Weekly'. A recent visit to the Eurogate terminal in Hamburg by China Shipping’s post-Panamax vessel CSCL Le Havre involved an exchange of 11,600 teu, illustrating the sheer scale of volumes per call that terminals increasingly have to deal with. The vessel is shared with CMA CGM and UASC.

Traffic to the end of March at French port Marseilles Fos saw major rises in container, dry bulk and cruise passenger volumes, but total cargo throughput fell 6% to 18.8 million metric tons, down by 1.2MT on the first quarter last year – due to declining oil trades in a changing market. General cargo improved 1% to 4.3MT, led by 2.8MT in container tonnage. In unit terms, box traffic rose 9% to 287,929 teu, with monthly throughput hitting a landmark 100,000 teu in both February and March.

The first 402 Dacia cars from Morocco have arrived at Fos aboard the Neptune Lines car carrier City of Oslo under a deal that will see 20,000 vehicles per year imported for the French market. France-bound Dacia cars built at the Renault-Nissan plant in Tangiers are being handled at a new terminal operated by vehicle logistics specialist TEA, part of the Charles André group. The Marseilles Fos port authority chose TEA to develop and run the site last December following a call for tenders in November 2012. The port already handles 220,000 vehicles per year at two other import/export terminals.

Christine Cabau Woehrel has taken up her new role as CEO of the Marseilles Fos port authority after two years heading the Port of Dunkirk. She succeeds Jean-Claude Terrier following a French transport ministry nomination that was backed by the port’s supervisory board in February and has now been confirmed by government decree. Her move marks a return to the headquarters city of CMA GGM, France’s biggest and the world’s third largest container carrier, where she worked from 1987-2011.

The Marseilles FOS port authority’s supervisory board has backed a French transport ministry proposal nominating Port of Dunkirk head Christine Cabau Woehrel as the new CEO in Marseilles. There is also a new chairman and deputy chairperson. Backing for the CEO's nomination came when the supervisory board launched its latest five-year term by also electing a chairman and deputy chairman from the 17-strong line-up of governmental, industry, business and staff representatives. The CEO's appointment will be ratified by a ministerial decree.

Total 2013 throughput at Marseilles Fos confirmed containers, steel industry bulks, LNG and cruise traffic as the growth drivers at the French port. In contrast, a mounting decline in crude oil and petroleum volumes pegged overall cargo to 80 million metric tons for the year, down 7% on 2012. Oil and gas still accounts for more than half the cargo handled at one of the world’s biggest oil ports, but volumes have been eroded by the restructuring of Europe’s refinery industry. At just over 46MT, last year’s oil and gas total was 12% and some 5MT lower than in 2012 and 13MT worse than in 2011.

The Marseilles Fos port authority has signed a five-year renewal of its agreement with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to provide management training for ports in French-speaking Africa. The collaboration dates from 1996 and runs within UNCTAD’s Train for Trade program. Under the scheme, every two years the leading French port hosts a training visit attended by some 20 directors and senior managers from African ports. Through seminars and a mutual exchange of ideas and experience…

Following a call for tenders in November last year, the Marseilles Fos port authority has chosen automotive logistics specialist TEA – part of the Charles Andre transport group - to develop and operate an import/export terminal for new cars at the Brule-Tabac quay in Fos. The decision was announced during a review of the port’s first five years under a revised management structure decreed by the French government in 2008. This established three governing bodies – the executive, supervisory and development boards – which are about to be renewed after completing their 2009-2013 terms of office.

Containership Cap Cleveland inaugurated a new service offering freight connections between US Pacific Northwest and Mediterranean ports when she docked recently at the Port of Portalnd, to be greeted by port officials and container terminal managers from Philippine-based International Container Services Inc. Hamburg Süd offers new and more regular calls to Mediterraneon ports as well as feeder connections to the Far East, Middle East, Indian Ocean, Latin America and West Africa.

A group of 25 port executives from nine French-speaking African countries has completed the latest course hosted by Marseilles Fos under a port training initiative agreed upon by the United Nations trade and development body. The two-week course, which supplements on-job training, was presented by personnel from Nantes St Nazaire, Dakar and Valencia as well as Marseilles Fos, which has trained some 90 African port professionals from 12 countries since signing up to the UN scheme six years ago. The agreement was renewed last September and is seen by the port authority as an important step in expanding technical and commercial cooperation.

The Marseilles Fos port authority is launching a tender for the use of its drydock No.10 – the largest in the Mediterranean – as a repair facility for the latest generation cruise ships, container carriers and tankers. The winning bidder is due to be selected by the end of the year and will be expected to demonstrate recent experience of handling ships more than 250 meters long. Dock 10 is 465m long and 85m wide, making it capable of accepting the 360m-long containerships now frequenting the port. Cruise ships of more than 330m have also become regular callers. With 65% of the world fleet of large cruise vessels concentrated in the Mediterranean – and no comparable facility in the vicinity – the port authority sees cruise sector repairs as another key market sector. The No.

Cargo throughput at the Port of Marseilles-Fos to the end of November was marked by sustained growth in container and liquid bulks traffic, while passenger numbers continued to be boosted by the cruise sector. In contrast, oil and dry bulk volumes fell by a combined five million tonnes compared with the first 11 months last year to leave the cargo total down 4.3% for the period on 87.9MT. The port authority says that 2008 throughput should recover to the 2006 level of more than 100MT as the Fos Cavaou methane terminal, a second Arcelor-Mittal steel foundry and the Cap Vracs clinker and cement works come on stream. Among the 2007 high spots, January-November container traffic rose 4.5% to almost 908,000 teu, with east-west trades via Fos up 8.1% on 647,000 teu.

Oiltanking Mediaco Marseille has confirmed plans to construct $294.5m refined products depot at the Port of Marseilles Authority’s Fos oil terminal. With a first phase due on stream in 2010, the 800,00 cu m facility offers additional throughput potential of six million tons a year at Marseilles-Fos – already the world’s third biggest petroleum port – reinforcing its Mediterranean hub role in refined products trades. The partners in the new company are Oiltanking, a subsidiary of Hamburg’s Marquard & Bahls, and Marseilles-based Mediaco. Oiltanking is said to be the world’s second largest independent tank farm operator, with 73 storage terminals in 21 countries…

January cargo throughput at Marseilles-Fos reached 8.52 million tons for a 6 percent rise on January 2007, one of last year’s busiest months at the leading French port. The increase was driven by a return to growth in the oil and dry bulk sectors following a drop over the previous 12 months. Oil volumes rose 7% to 5.7MT – one of the best performances for two years – after crude imports improved 13% to 3.9MT. Local refineries took 2.9MT (+11%) while the balance marked a 17% increase in pipeline deliveries to Germany and Switzerland, with German demand up by 30%. Compared with last January, refined oil products were down 9% at 1MT and LNG traffic fell 12% to 0.36MT, but these totals still beat the monthly average for 2007. Meanwhile LPG throughput soared 28% to 0.3MT.

With varied public and private sector experience, 56-year-old M. Terrier has been D-G at the since March 2004and is expected to start his new job in September following ratification by the French cabinet. M. Janin, 61, said he was “honoured and proud” to have been responsible for the development of the port since arriving at Marseilles-Fos in December 2005, adding that he was convinced the large majority of personnel were ready to play their part in building “the great port of tomorrow”. In addition to overseeing construction of the Fos 2XL container terminal to its near conclusion, M. Janin launched the Fos 3XL and Fos 4XL initiatives, which offer the port long-term container capacity.

Upon completion of the project, the creation of two new terminals due on stream in 2010, capacity will increase from the current 1m teu per year to 2.5m teu. Some 400 direct jobs will also be generated in addition to several thousand in allied sectors. Backing from the BEI – the European Union finance institution – acknowledges that the scheme meets several criteria for the development of European transport networks. During the signing, M. de Fontaine Vive said the project was vital given the strategic location of Marseilles Fos in Motorways of the Sea and intermodal transport networks being put in place. M. Terrier said the port was delighted to have found a stable and respected financial partner offering highly competitive interest rates and repayment terms.

Marseilles-Fos container throughput of 397,000 teu from January to May marked a 3 percent increase on the first five months last year. The total included an 8 percent rise to 284,000 teu on east-west trades via Fos. Container tonnage of four million tonnes was up 4 percent for the period and helped general cargo to a similar percentage rise on 7.1MT. A 10% boost in RoRo traffic added 1.8MT to the total. The port’s overall January-May cargo total of 39.7MT was 2.5% down on last year. Oil traffic continued to rally after a slow start to the year, ending the period 1.1 percent down on 25.3MT, but dry bulks suffered from reduced steel industry activity to finish 16.1% worse on 5.9MT. Liquid bulks remained buoyant with 10 percent growth to 1.4MT.

Despite increases in general cargo and liquid bulks, January-September throughput at leading French cargo port Marseilles-Fos slipped to 72.03 million tonnes – down 2.7% on the first nine months last year - due to lower oil and dry bulk volumes. General cargo rose 6% to 13.05MT, led by an 8.4% increase in container tonnage to 7.55MT on the back of Far East imports. Ro-ro traffic contributed 3.3MT (+5.6%) while conventional trades were down 0.9% on 2.2MT. In unit terms, box traffic grew 4.8% to 744,000 teu. Petro-chemicals demand saw liquid bulks throughput improve 10.8% on 2.56MT but reduced steel industry demand prompted a 15.7% fall in dry bulks to 10.35MT. The oil sector experienced contrasting fortunes to finish 2.3% down at 46.07MT.