P&O Ports wins three year container terminal contract in France
The contract will see P&O Ports operating a container yard with a draft up to 14,5m, with 457 metres of quay and an adjacent 2 hectares of land. The container terminal is expected to commence operations in October 2017.
Port de Sete is a deep draft port, handling frozen, chilled, general and breakbulk cargo, containers, ro-ro services and livestock alongside cruise and ferry terminals, a marina, cement handling facilities and an agro-industrial complex.
Located in the heart of the Occitanie region, Port de Sète has the capacity to process all types of vessels with additional hectares of land to be developed for the container activity, an ideal entry point to the Region Auvergne-Rhône with direct inland waterway communications and well positioned to serve nearby large centres of population including Toulouse, Montpellier and Clermont-Ferrand.
It forms part of the network of feeder routes in Italy, Spain and France with access to major hubs throughout the Mediterranean, the road and rail network of southern France and major businesses located in the region.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Ports Customs and Freezones Corporation (PCFC) in Dubai, said: “Port De Sète has great potential and is ready to become another gateway port for France. In the early stages it will continue to primarily cater for feeder services in the eastern Mediterranean, the Maghreb region and North Africa."
"Once development takes place with the backing of our regional partners we expect to see more multinational shippers use its services with other international destinations added over time.”
Jean Claude Gayssot, Président of the Port de Sète said “We are pleased to be working with P&O Ports, which is independent and a source of great opportunity with a well-know brand having a worldwide reputation in the shipping sector whose global operations, and a DP World network which makes them an attractive and reliable partner with the Region Occitanie.”
Beyond Port de Sète, the company has other major investments in mind. Short term, P&O Ports plans on expanding in the UAE as well as in Ukraine and Somalia. These investments are not always about a large monetary investment but they are also about providing the right set of management skills to help the host governments run their ports efficiently and attract more cargo to their ports through the presence of P&O Ports, they explained.
For more information:
Rado Antolovic Olivier Carmes
Tel: +971 556 224 8250 Tel: +33 467 463 501
www.poports.com www.sete.port.fr