2007 was a year of contrasts for the Port of Marseilles Authority (PMA). Its traffic was slightly down on 2006 (-3,7% to 96.3 million tonnes) due to the loss of three million tonnes following the closure of an ArcelorMittal steel foundry for renovation work and a decline in volumes of crude oil and oil products. But most of the other indicators are green. Container traffic reached one million units for the first time, representing a symbolic stepping-stone towards the two million forecast for 2010 when the Fos 2XL terminal, which is currently under construction, becomes operational. Roll-on/roll-off traffic (the transport of vehicles such as trucks and trailers on specially-designed vessels) also increased by a record 6% and cruise passenger numbers reached 429,000, exceeding the port’s objective of 400,000 for 2007. The PMA, which aims to double this figure by 2011, this year issued a request for proposal to hand over the management of its facilities to a private operator in return for guaranteed traffic of one million passengers in the short term.
The port’s record container, roll-on/roll-off and cruise volumes, together with an increase in liquid bulks (+5%) and general cargo (+6%) enable the port to envisage a return to growth in 2008. This will be helped by an increase in ArcelorMittal’s capacity with the resumption of its steel foundry operations. The port will also be able to count on additional volume of approximately three million tonnes when the new GDF2 methane terminal, planned for mid 2008, comes on stream. “Our traffic forecasts are in the region of 102 million tonnes,” says PMA’s Director-General, Guy Janin.
And this growth is expected to become more marked by 2011 with extra volume of 33 million tonnes from the gradual implementation of projects that the port has been developing since 2001. Moreover, a number of new structuring projects came to light in 2007, including the introduction of two new terminals (Fos 3XL and 4XL), plans for Shell’s Faster liquefied natural gas terminal and massive investment to develop refined pro-ducts and dry bulk traffic. This series of projects has the potential to provide the PMA with an additional volume of 25 million tonnes by 2014-2015, increasing total throughput to 157 million tonnes. “The confidence that large international investors have in the capability of the Port of Marseilles Authority, combined with an unrivalled investment plan involving 80 million euros in 2007 and 169 million euros in 2008, strengthen our ambition to continue to be a major multi-purpose port at a time when many ports are choosing to specialise. Opting for versatility presents the Port of Marseilles-Fos with a genuine challenge: that of becoming the major south European port and the alter ego of the hub of Rotterdam,” says Guy Janin.
An international maritime port such as the Port of Marseilles is a link in a worldwide logistics chain connecting production areas with consumer markets. It acts as an interface between the maritime and land segments and must enable the throughput of all types of goods, in all types of packaging, to and from their trading area.
This is definitely true of the Port of Marseilles, which is a historic Mediterranean port that is ideally situated on the east-west lanes from Asia. “Asia to Marseilles journey times are five days shorter than from Asia to Rotterdam,” points out Guy Janin. Moreover, the port’s hinterland comprises the Mediterranean basin and the whole of Western Europe. The Rhone valley provides unique connectivity with the dynamic heart of Europe.
The PMA is a quadri-modal port
The Port of Marseilles is a general-purpose port with infrastructures for loading and unloading all types of cargo. The port has container, RoRo, oil, liquid bulk, dry bulk and passenger terminals. Future projects include new container terminals at Fos, expansion of the port’s cruise berths and the general redevelopment of its oil terminals.
The port is also one of the world’s very few quadri-modal ports (road, rail, river and pipelines) and the PMA has many projects in this area, including investment of 20 million euros in a new river link directly connecting the containers area and the Rhone to move more efficiently containers from the maritime terminals where maximum flow capacity is required. The port has also set up a combined road-rail transport platform, in the petrochemical area, for hazardous materials. Yet another example of the efforts made by the port to improve and develop interconnections between its maritime infrastructures and hinterland.
With its geographical location, maritime infrastructures for loading all types of cargo, a real estate portfolio that is unique in Europe (covering 9,000 hectares), which raises the possibility of the emergence of new industries, together with pre- and post-shipping diversity, the Port of Marseilles has the potential to become a real gateway to southern Europe for trade with the rest of the world. “We are pressing ahead with our efforts to develop further connections between the Port of Marseilles’ maritime infrastructures and our hinterland in order to integrate, over the long term, the network of international logistics chains for all types of goods and products,” concludes Guy Janin.
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