The Port of Le Havre Supervisory Board has confirmed a multi-year investment programme devoted to development representing 500 million Euros. The decision was voted unanimously in Le Havre on 29 June in a plenary session chaired by Emmanuèle Perron.
- A WORK METHOD BASED ON ANALYSIS AND CONSULTATION
- PRIORITY: THE COMPLETION OF PORT 2000, INCLUDING BERTHS 11 AND 12 AND THE ‘FLAP GATE’ (“chatière” in French)
- CONFIRMATION OF ALL INVESTMENT PROJECTS RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT
A WORK METHOD BASED ON ANALYSIS AND CONSULTATION
The decision is based on the information resulting from the consultation of the governance bodies to which the port authorities had referred and the review of the consultation on improving river access to Port 2000 conducted last year. Consisting of representatives of the port, including elected representatives of the territories, industrialists, port operators and representatives of environmental associations, the Development Board of the Major Seaport of Le Havre (GPMH) and its Investment Committee studied the programme presented by the port and gave it their full support.
“The consultation process, as wide as possible, has allowed all of the stakeholders to express themselves with rigour and objectivity,” said Jean-Louis Le Yondre, chair of the Development Board. And we are delighted that this program, which is both feasible and financeable, has met with genuine consensus from the entire port community. It allows to re-launch the investments necessary for the further development of the #1 French port for foreign trade.”
The programme is structured around two priorities:
Development investments representing some €500 million;
Investments in the maintenance and modernization of existing assets, i.e. €110 million over 5 years.
The phasing, whether technical or temporal – depending on the project – will make the programme financially sustainable.
PRIORITY: THE COMPLETION OF PORT 2000, INCLUDING BERTHS 11 AND 12 AND THE FLAP GATE
Based on the joint analysis of the projects and requirements, the completion of Port 2000 is crucial to the development strategy of the port in the very short term. Its completion is based on two ancillary projects: the construction of berths 11 and 12 which will feed the Seine corridor by the growth in maritime traffic and river access to Port 2000 (via the flap gate) which will help to evacuate containers by waterway, and will complete the current river solutions with their natural market outlets of Rouen and Paris.
Considered “vital”, the construction of berths 11 and 12 satisfies all the conditions for work to immediately start: “the process of selecting candidates for the allocation of the 2 berths has been launched and its results demonstrate the maturity of the terminal operator market and the strategic quality of the proposed location,” said Hervé Martel. The foundation stone for the project could be laid as early as July 2019, “which offers a guarantee of technical and administrative maturity liable to win the support of Europe for co-financing, for which we could apply alongside the flap gate project.”
For the record, the funding is covered by the commitments of the interregional development contract (CPIER).
The flap gate project has also been maintained in the priority programme, to serve a multimodal and low-carbon transport system advocated by many of the stakeholders in the port area; every effort will be made for the public inquiry to take place in optimal conditions.
The “completion of Port 2000” as a whole will therefore be the subject of a request to the European Commission for a subsidy. The level of the possible subsidy is of the order of 20% of the cost of the work.
CONFIRMATION OF ALL INVESTMENT PROJECTS RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT
“At the end of these consultations,” explained Emmanuèle Perron, Chair of the Supervisory Board, “after taking into account the financial capacities and commitments already made by the main partners, the Supervisory Board decided to retain all the projects presented at the meeting on March 30 and to continue studies on all projects: the extension to the ro-ro terminal, road/rail safety and security enhancement, further development of the logistics parks, and redevelopment of the northern terminals.”
The project for the ro-ro terminal will be carried out without delay, given the current pressure on available space. The project may need to be phased, with the construction of back-up areas before then quays.
The Atlantic project will be continued based on the aims for the “North Port”, which constitutes a fundamental capacity reserve for the development of container traffic in certain market segments (in particular on the transatlantic routes, the Mediterranean and West Africa).
The crossroads between the Industrial Road (Route Industrielle) and the A29 motorway, considered a bottleneck for the industrial zone, will be redeveloped; co-financing by the local authorities is being discussed alongside the Paris-Normandy Motorway Company (SAPN); the Port authority has already carried out studies in the hope to obtain ministerial approval before the end of 2018. Secondly, the ‘La Brèque’ crossroads will also be redeveloped in order to improve the fluidity of throughput on the Industrial Port Zone (ZIP) via Bridge VIIa (‘Pont VIIbis’) and accessibility to the west of the ZIP and projects under development in this sector.
Finally, the infrastructure maintenance and modernization scheme is designed to ensure maximum safety and security of port facilities; some benefit from co-financing through contracts already signed as part of the State-region development contract (CPER) or the port revival plan.
The content of the investment program having been approved, there now begins a period of consolidation of project financing plans and the confirmation of the cofinancers’ commitments. A financing contract will be set up for each of the projects and each project will be the subject of individual decisions by the Supervisory Board, the aim being to consolidate the programme as a whole as soon as possible.
With this ambitious investment programme which was voted unanimously on June 29, the whole of the Le Havre port community has demonstrated its backing for France’s maritime, port and industrial ambitions.
