CGT Union Calls for French Port Strike
France's CGT union is calling for a nationwide port strike on June 23 and June 28 as part of ongoing protests against the government's labour reform bill, the union said in a statement on Wednesday. Port workers have participated in rolling nationwide strikes in recent weeks, notably disrupting activity at the oil terminal in Le Havre, northern France, which handles about 40 percent of French crude imports. Tuesday saw a latest day of nationwide demonstrations against the labour reform, including protests in Paris marked by violent clashes between police and youths. (Reporting by Valerie Parent, writing by Gus Trompiz)
French Oil and Port Workers Vote to Begin New Strikes
Oil sector workers of French CGT and FO unions voted on Monday to begin a strike at Exxon Mobil's 240,000 barrels-per-day Port Jerome refinery in northern France, the unions said in a joint statement. Workers at a port terminal in Le Havre, northern France, which handles large volumes of imported petroleum products, also voted overwhelmingly to strike, the CGT said. The Port Jerome workers will join the rolling nationwide protest that began in March, aimed at forcing the government to withdraw contested labour market reforms. The unions said the strike and blockade of the refinery will begin at 0400 GMT on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for Exxon told Reuters earlier on Monday that production had not been affected by the strike, which has hit output at rival Total's refineries.
Hamburg Süd Christens “Cap San Antonio”
On Friday, Hamburg Süd celebrated the christening of its container ship “Cap San Antonio” at the Cruise Terminal of Le Havre, France, with customers and business partners. The sponsor is Veronika Schüller, wife of Prof Dr Stephan Schüller, Chairman of the General Partners of Bankhaus Lampe KG. The “Cap San Antonio” is one of a series of six new ships of the “Cap San” class built for Hamburg Süd at the Korean yard Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. All newbuildings of this class each have a nominal slot capacity of 9,600 TEU, making them the shipping group’s largest vessels. With 2,100 container plugs, they have the largest reefer capacity worldwide, thereby underscoring one of Hamburg Süd’s core competences in the transport of refrigerated cargo.
Ro-Ro Traffic: ERL Selects HAROPA
In order to develop its business of carriage of new and secondhand vehicles from France, European Roro Lines (ERL), a company among the leaders of the ro-ro traffic bound for Africa, has selected HAROPA. Created March 1, the French subsidiary of European Roro Lines, (ERL France) has just set up its head office in the port of Le Havre and launches the operation of a river terminal on a surface of 4,650 sq. m. at the port of Gennevilliers - port in the ‘Ile-de-France’ (Paris) region - dedicated to the transport of vehicles to the ‘quai de l’Europe’ (Europe terminal) in Le Havre.
The Port of Le Havre Receives the Parsifal
The maiden call of the Parsifal, the latest vessel of the Scandinavian shipowner’s fleet specialised in roll-on/roll-off traffic, took place on June 15th, at the ro-ro terminal of Le Havre. This giant of the seas, 265 m long, carries all types of vehicles, whatever the size and the weight, providing an unequalled capacity on this kind of vessels. The Parsifal was designed to offer a maximum of flexible areas suited for the transport of high and heavy cargo (H&H’s), such as bulldozers, tractors and project cargo. The ship guarantees a loading volume of 138,000 sq.
Le Havre Orders New Container Gantry Cranes
The Port of Le Havre has ordered two new container gantry cranes from the Italian company Fantuzzi-Reggiane to be installed at one of its major container terminals, Quay of Bougainville, as part of the Port 2000 expansion project. Delivery is anticipated at the end of 2003. Each of the new cranes has a lifting capacity of 60 tons and will be able to accommodate vessels of 20 container widths, as opposed to the current allowances of 16-17 widths. The distance between rails of the gantry cranes will be 115 feet (35m), which will permit their movement to new berths of Port 2000 as required. The Fantuzzi-Reggiane cranes will operate in excess of 40 moves per hour. The ore terminal at Le Havre, MC6, has ordered a 30-ton crane for the stacking yard to replace two current 15-ton cranes.
