Marseille

Oct 31, 16:09 Marseilles Q3 container throughput down 6 percent Container traffic at Marseill...

seagull Oct 31, 16:09
Marseilles Q3 container throughput down 6 percent
Container traffic at Marseilles, France’s largest port, fell 6 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of 2011, largely because of nationwide port strikes at the beginning of the year, Journal of Commerce reports. The port handled 704,799 20-foot equivalents units, down from 750,460 TEUs in the first three quarters of 2010. The year-over-year decline slowed in September to 1.5 percent, with traffic slipping to 79,421 TEUs from 80,634 TEUs.
Overall port traffic was up 1 percent to 66.4 million metric tons, driven by a 6 percent growth in oil and gas traffic to 44.8 million tons.
Breakbulk cargo shrunk 11 percent in the first three quarters to 1.48 million tons, mainly because of an 18.1 percent plunge in steel shipments. The decline accelerated in September to 15.5 percent, with shipments down to 123,000 tons from 145,000 tons in September 2010.

seanews.ru/event

Jun 11, 22:19 Marseilles completes port reform Marseilles Fos Port Authority has completed th...

seagull Jun 11, 22:19
Marseilles completes port reform
Marseilles Fos Port Authority has completed the transfer of all its personnel and equipment to privatised terminals, as required under national port reforms, ifw-net reports.

The last of 410 members of staff were transferred on Saturday, when 41 crane drivers and maintenance staff, four gantries and a mobile crane were assigned to newly formed operator Intramar STS.

Cargo handling at the port is now entirely carried out by private or part-private companies.

On 3 May, a total of 160 Fos-based personnel were transferred to Eurofos and Seayard at the container terminal, and to Carfos at the ore and grain terminals.

Six post-panamax container gantries were also handed over, together with cranes and conveyor plant for the dry bulk operations.

This was followed on 16 May by the transfer of 210 personnel, discharge arms and the pipeline network for the Fos and Lavera oil terminals.

The port authority said: “Under the national reforms, the port authority’s overriding future focus will be on development and infrastructure. In this respect, the executive board hosted a meeting on 24 May to seek further backing from its public funding partners.”

Strikes have blighted the French port industry over the past couple of years as unions staged a series of strikes against government plans to transfer workers to the private sector and increase the age of retirement.

But in April, a breakthrough on tripartite agreements, covering all major French ports, coincided with the signing of a national agreement on the linked issue of retirement age, meaning workers could start to be transferred to the private sector.


seanews.ru/event

Feb 3 '11, 11:01 Marseille cargo throughput up 3 percent in 2010 The port of Marseille boosted t...

seagull Feb 3 '11, 11:01
Marseille cargo throughput up 3 percent in 2010
The port of Marseille boosted traffic just 3 percent in 2010, lagging double digit growth rates at rival European ports as it paid the price for prolonged strikes, The Journal of Commerce reports.

France's largest port, which handled 86 million metric tons last year, also failed to break through the 1 million container barrier, as traffic increased 9 percent to 953,435 20-foot equivalent units.

The port authority said strikes had cost Marseille 107,000 TEUs of container traffic as carriers diverted cargoes to rival ports.

Marseille, which suffered between 50 and 60 days of strikes in 2010, was also closed down by the third successive four-day nationwide stoppage over the weekend.

Dry cargo shipments increased 40 percent in 2010 from the previous year to almost 12 million tons, and conventional traffic was up 21 percent to 2.1 million tons, driven by strong exports of steel.

Crude oil and petroleum traffic, which accounts for a third of Marseille's total throughput, shrunk 3 percent because of a 33 day strike at the Fos-Lavera oil terminal.

Marseille's 3 percent growth in total cargo compares with an 11 percent rise at Rotterdam to a record 430 million tons and a 13 percent gain in Antwerp to 178 million tons.

But Marseille grew more than three times faster than the 0.8 percent average growth at other French ports in 2010.

This compares with average growth of 7.7 percent for all European ports, according to the Marseille Port Authority.

businesstimes.com.sg

Jan 23 '11, 12:01 French ports face four days of strikes French ports are bracing for four consec...

seagull Jan 23 '11, 12:01
French ports face four days of strikes
French ports are bracing for four consecutive days of nationwide strikes from Friday, Jan. 21, following the breakdown of talks with the government and port authorities over changes in dockworkers' working conditions and pensions.
Dockworkers will walk off the job at all major ports, including Marseilles, the biggest port by tonnage and Le Havre, the largest container hub, on Jan. 21 and Jan. 23 while other port workers will strike on Jan. 22 and Jan. 24.
The Communist-led CGT, the biggest port union, renewed its call for strike action to protest the government's alleged failure to honor a pledge of favorable early retirement for port workers.
Dutch and Belgian transport unions have called on dockworkers in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge not to handle any cargoes diverted from strike-bound French ports.
French dockworkers staged strikes between Jan. 12 and Jan. 17, extending two years of walkouts and bans on overtime and weekend work over the government's port reform, centered on the transfer of some 2,000 container crane operators and maintenance workers from port authority payrolls to private stevedores.
Unions are demanding that between 5,000 and 6,000 dockworkers and other port workers engaged in arduous work be allowed to retire four to five years before the legal retirement age, partly financed with public funds.
The government is insisting any agreement with the dockworkers must be in line with its pension reform voted by Parliament in 2010, which raised the national retirement age for all workers from 60 to 62 and the threshold for full benefits from 65 to 67.
The center-right government faced down widespread strikes and street protests to push through pension reform and is expected to adopt an equally tough stance in negotiations with port employers and unions.

Source: joc.com

Dec 23 '10, 18:51 Marseille’s new gantry cranes to serve 13,000TEU vessels As part of their inv...

seagull Dec 23 '10, 18:51
Marseille’s new gantry cranes to serve 13,000TEU vessels

As part of their investment in port terminals, Portsynergy shareholders CMA CGM and DP World have just taken delivery of the first two gantry cranes for the Terminal de la Méditerranée.
For the CMA CGM Group, these are the fourteenth and fifteenth cranes to be purchased for its French terminals.
Signed in 2006 with the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille, the agreement to build and operate a container terminal at Fos for a period of 35 years was granted to CMA CGM and DP World as part of the FOS 2XL project. The aim is to significantly expand the port’s positioning for container traffic in the Mediterranean.
With an estimated flow of one million TEU in 2010, of which two-thirds are handled by Fos terminals, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille ranks number two in France, fifteenth in Europe, but only 102 in the world for container traffic.
FOS2XL intends to improve the competitiveness of Marseille/Fos by doubling its container handling capacity, and marks the starting point of the redevelopment of this port to service French and European markets, says CMA CGM.
The two super post-Panamax gantry cranes delivered, with a capacity of 100 tonnes and a reach of 22 rows of containers, mean the terminal can handle the world’s largest container ships in the most efficient way.
For the first phase, the 50-hectare CMA CGM/DP World terminal will have five gantry cranes and an 840-metre long quay, with a draft of 14 metres to 16 metres, and will be able to accommodate two 13,000TEU-plus vessels at any one time.

Source: bairdmaritime.com

Dec 22 '10, 10:41 Marseille’s new gantry cranes to serve 13,000TEU vessels As part of their inves...

seagull Dec 22 '10, 10:41
Marseille’s new gantry cranes to serve 13,000TEU vessels
As part of their investment in port terminals, Portsynergy shareholders CMA CGM and DP World have just taken delivery of the first two gantry cranes for the Terminal de la Méditerranée.

For the CMA CGM Group, these are the fourteenth and fifteenth cranes to be purchased for its French terminals.

Signed in 2006 with the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille, the agreement to build and operate a container terminal at Fos for a period of 35 years was granted to CMA CGM and DP World as part of the FOS 2XL project. The aim is to significantly expand the port’s positioning for container traffic in the Mediterranean.

With an estimated flow of one million TEU in 2010, of which two-thirds are handled by Fos terminals, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille ranks number two in France, fifteenth in Europe, but only 102 in the world for container traffic.

FOS2XL intends to improve the competitiveness of Marseille/Fos by doubling its container handling capacity, and marks the starting point of the redevelopment of this port to service French and European markets, says CMA CGM.

The two super post-Panamax gantry cranes delivered, with a capacity of 100 tonnes and a reach of 22 rows of containers, mean the terminal can handle the world’s largest container ships in the most efficient way.

For the first phase, the 50-hectare CMA CGM/DP World terminal will have five gantry cranes and an 840-metre long quay, with a draft of 14 metres to 16 metres, and will be able to accommodate two 13,000TEU-plus vessels at any one time.

Source: bairdmaritime.com