Southern France News

TotalEnergies and CMA CGM launched Marseilles’ inaugural ship-to-containership Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering operation in the Port of Marseille Fos, Southern France.CMA CGM BALI, a 15,000 TEU LNG-powered containership is deployed on the MEX 1service, connecting Asia and South Europe. The ship was refuelled by TotalEnergies’ Gas Vitality, the first LNG bunker vessel based in France, with around 6,000 cu. m. of LNG, by means of a ship-to-ship transfer alongside the Eurofos container terminal, while the containership carried out cargo operations simultaneously.

The first LNG bunker vessel to be based in France has been named “Gas Vitality”, at a ceremony held today at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, China. The 18,600-m³ newbuild bunker vessel is TotalEnergies Marine Fuels’ second collaboration with shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd (MOL) and shipbuilder, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding following the signing of a long-term charter contract in November 2019. Classed by Bureau Veritas and operated by V.Ships France under the French flag, the Gas Vitality will enter operational service in December 2021 and be based in the Port of Marseille- Fos…

The first LNG bunker vessel to be based in France has successfully completed sea and gas trials, marking another step towards the delivery and operational start-up.The new vessel, named Marseille, is TotalEnergies Marine Fuels’ second collaboration with shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and shipbuilder, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. TotalEnergies Marine Fuels and MOL signed a long-term charter contract in November 2019 and construction started in April 2020. The 18,600-m³ capacity vessel was first launched from the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China at the end of April 2021.

The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free a giant container ship blocking the vital trade waterway that has sent shipping rates for oil product tankers soaring and disrupted the global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes.Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400 meter long Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, ran aground in the canal on Tuesday.Efforts to free the vessel may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather conditions…

France’s flagship aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle is returning to its home port early after about 40 crew members showed signs of COVID-19 symptoms, the armed forces ministry said on Wednesday.The personnel were under strict medical observation on board the nuclear-powered carrier, which had most recently been taking part in exercises with northern European navies in the Baltic Sea.“The first cases showed symptoms recently,” the ministry said in a statement. “There are no signs of aggravated cases among the patients.The aircraft carrier would dock in Toulon…

Owners of a factory ship moored off southern France which normally turns seawater into bottled mineral water have converted it to make sanitizing solution in the fight against the coronavirus.At the start of the year, the 179-meter long Odeep One began making bottled water pumped from the depths of the Mediterranean but since April 1 the plastic bottles which roll off its production line have contained alcohol solution instead.The French owners of the Panama-flagged ship currently produce just over 43,000 of the 600 milliliter bottles a day but they soon hope to more than double capacity to over 750,000 bottles a week, according to technical director of the parent company OFW Ships, Charles Denise."Sailors are used to helping with rescue operations, it's in their DNA.

France will use a helicopter warship to transfer coronavirus patients in critical condition from Corsica to hospitals in the southeast of the country, its armed forces minister said on Friday.As of Thursday, there were 162 confirmed coronavirus cases on the Mediterranean island.

Elengy, a subsidiary of French energy group Engie, has acquired French energy group Total's 27.5% stake in Fosmax LNG, owner of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Fos Cavaou in southern France.Elengy now owns 100% of its three LNG terminals: Fos Cavaou, Fos Tonkin and Montoir-de-Bretagne. Until now Fosmax LNG was owned 72.5% by Elengy and 27.5% by Total Gaz Electricité Holding France (TGEHF).The acquisition of the shares is financed mainly by an increase in Elengy’s capital reserved for the Société d’Infrastructures Gazières (SIG). The SIG now owns close to 18% of Elengy’s capital, with the balance being held by GRTgaz.For Elengy…

Commercial workboat philanthropy on display on PT-305: WWII Museum’s PT-305 sails again after a far reaching donor-funded restoration. In March, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans launched its reconstructed PT-305, built locally by Higgins Industries in 1943. The museum acquired the boat known as the USS Sudden Jerk in 2007, restoration began in 2009, and it now sails Lake Pontchartrain as an interactive exhibit. PT-305, with a fifteen-man crew, belonged to a 12-ship squadron operating in the Mediterranean from 1944 until the war ended in 1945.

APM Terminals Vado, Italy Managing Director Paolo Cornetto highlighted the future role of the deepwater APM Terminals Vado facility, now under construction, as a new southern gateway to Central Europe. “We designed our new port around liner customers - and our landside customers – the importers, exporters and truckers - to help them do more business by tapping into the 70 million-member consumer market of northern Italy, southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria and eastern France within an eight hour proximity of our port," he said. "We will offer a fully-automated gate complex – the first of any Italian port - to get truckers in and out faster and safer.

French terminal operator Elengy said on Thursday that it had received delivery of a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Fos terminal on Wednesday, and expected to receive six more deliveries in February.   Elengy said it was the third cargo it had received in the month of January.   The delivery could ease supply pressure in southern France where prices hit record highs last week and the spread with prices in the north widened further due to tight supply following a force majeure in Algeria.   French southern gas hub contract was at 40.200 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) on Thursday, down 0.62 percent, sharply lower from its Friday high of 45 euros/MWh.   The price in the north was up 3.29 percent to 19.625 euros/MWh.   (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Gus Trompiz)

French gas grid operator GRTgaz said a force majeure in Algeria and tensions in the global gas market were reducing deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to southern France, just as winter demand for heating intensifies. Deliveries to the Fos-sur-Mer terminal were at about 40 gigawatt-hour (GWh) per day, compared with the 70 GWh per day needed to meet increased winter demand for power and heating, GRTgaz chief executive Thierry Trouve told journalists on Tuesday. The low deliveries at Fos and congestion on the pipeline linking France's northern and southern gas hubs has led to the widening of the spread between prices in the two regions as prices in the south hit new highs.

CMA CGM, a leading worldwide shipping group, and the OGEU group, 4th largest French water bottler, are pleased to announce the signing of a partnership agreement on November 2 of this year. * CMA CGM acquiring a stake in the French factory producing the Beaupré water owned by the OGEU Group. Located in Signes, in Southern France, this spring water complies with the highest worldwide quality standards. * The creation of a joint-venture company for the exclusive distribution outside Europe of Beaupré and all OGEU Group waters (OGEU, PLANCOET, CHEVREUSE, SAINT LAMBERT, PYRENEA, SAINTE ALIX, etc.). Spring and mineral waters from France are among the best in the world and there is an increasing demand for quality water. Convinced that French waters can answer this growing need, Jacques R.

Kelvin Hughes has been awarded the contract for the second phase of a radar system installation by the Port of Marseille Fos in Southern France. The Enfield-based company supplied five SBS-700 radar systems earlier this year that were integrated with the port's Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS). The second phase has seen two more, identical models installed and commissioned at the port in July. Kelvin Hughes' SBS-700 radar system is specifically designed to meet the requirements of a Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system as defined in IALA recommendation V-128.

Preliminary work got underway on Monday to restart three of Total's French oil refineries stopped as part of nationwide strikes against planned changes to employment laws, but workers were still on strike at the country's two main oil ports. Workers voted to end a strike at Grandpuits near Paris and preliminary work on resuming operations was underway there and at the Normandy refinery, as well as at the Feyzin refinery in the southern Rhone region, a Total spokesman said. Total operates five of the country's eight refineries. The Donges refinery on France's western coast was still blocked by about 30 members of the hardline CGT union, which is leading the campaign of stoppages and protests in the rail and energy sectors against the government's labour reforms.

Some 38 oil tankers have been held up at the Fos-Lavera oil port in southern France, the country's biggest, including 25 at harbour, up from 12 the previous day, a port authority spokeswoman said on Friday. She said 13 other tankers were waiting at quay. Under normal busy operations, at most five vessels wait at harbour. In the northern port of Le Havre, 11 oil tankers were waiting at harbour and five at quay, a port official told Reuters. The rolling strikes by France's CGT and FO unions, aimed at forcing the government to withdraw a planned labour reform, have shut down of refineries, blocked petrol depots and disrupted fuel supplies. Reporting by Valerie Parent

Nearly two dozen vessels were queued outside the French oil import terminal in Fos, southern France on Thursday, held up by a strike organised by the hardline CGT and FO unions over planned labour reforms. A spokeswoman for the port of Marseille told Reuters that yesterday 29 oil, LNG and chemicals vessels were waiting between the wharf and harbour on Wednesday. This morning, 21 vessels including 12 carrying oil, LNG or chemicals, were waiting. During normal busy operations, about 5 vessels would be waiting, the port authority said. CGT port workers and dockers joined the nationwide rolling strike on Thursday and Friday. The stoppages hitting the power, fuel and transport sectors is aimed at forcing the government to withdraw the planned labour reform bill.

Drones could cut time and costs for deliveries and inspections across the Maersk Group – but they must be reliable and absolutely safe. Maersk Tankers is testing delivery to vessels on drones that have been certified for explosive environments. Markus Kuhn peers out through the fog and spots the Maersk Edgar waiting across the chilly Danish waters. Drone operator Thierry Bauer, dressed against the winter cold after a long journey from his centre of operations in Southern France, carefully attaches the cargo of Maersk cookies to its transport.

APM Terminals has signed a contract for the delivery of 19 advanced container handlers which will employ advanced diesel/electric power sourcing to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions for Italy’s newest container terminal. Vado, Italy – APM Terminals has concluded a contract with Finnish-based container handling equipment manufacturer Kalmar for the delivery of 19 Hybrid Straddle Carriers for the new 800,000 TEU annual capacity deepwater APM Terminals Vado facility now under construction on northern Italy’s Ligurian Coast. The facility will be the world’s first container terminal to employ an entirely hybrid straddle carrier fleet.

Growth, competitiveness and sustainability are the three axes that underlie the Port of Barcelona's Third Strategic Plan 2015-2020, which sets the main objectives for the coming years. This Plan maintains the Port's mission as defined in the previous two plans: “To contribute to the competitiveness of customers by providing efficient services responding to their needs for maritime transport, land transport and logistics services”. The new Plan takes up the objectives of the preceding two plans and incorporates the current conditions of international trade markets - volatility, concentrations of maritime companies, restructuring of the transport sector, etc. - which have led to a scenario of increasing competitiveness between ports and logistics chains.

APM Terminals and GF Group are pleased to announce the acquisition of 100% of Reefer Terminal S.p.A. by APM Terminals has been completed today. Terms and price were not disclosed. Reefer Terminal, the largest refrigerated terminal in the Mediterranean for more than thirty years handling 600,000 pallets per year, is also a world-class terminal for the handling of containers (275,000 TEU, 510 reefer plugs, 14.5 meter depth and 465 meter of quay) and general cargo. APM Terminals has acquired the Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal as part of the port master plan to create new supply chains to markets in Northern Italy, Southern France, Switzerland and Bavaria.

APM Terminals (APMT) has purchased Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal in North-Western Italy, near Genoa, from the GF Group. Reefer Terminal has been the largest refrigerated terminal in the Mediterranean for more than 30 years, handles 600,000 pallets a year as well as 275,000 teu. The terms and the price of the deal were not disclosed. Located on Italy’s northwest Ligurian Coast, Vado Reefer Terminal represents an annual throughout capacity of 275,000 TEUs, with 510 reefer plugs, a depth of 14.5 meters, and 465 meters of quay and handles 600,000 pallets of fresh fruit imported into northern Italy and inland European locations. APMT acquired the terminal as part of its Vado port master plan to create new supply chains to markets in Northern Italy, Southern France, Switzerland and Bavaria.

APM Terminals signed an agreement for the construction and delivery of four Ship-to-Shore (STS) Gantry Cranes and 14 Automated Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMGs) for the new APM Terminals Vado terminal now under construction on Italy’s Ligurian coast. The new terminal, the first new major port construction in Italy in several decades, is scheduled to open in January 2018 with an annual throughput capacity of 800,000 TEUs, and the ability to handle vessels up to 18,000 TEU capacity. The Italian government is providing EUR 300 million for civil works for the project. APM Terminals is investing EUR 150 million in the new terminal which will create 450 new jobs when operations commence.