Sete plans 'Motorway of the sea'
January 12, 2012
The French Mediterranean port of Sète is planning to launch a “Motorway of the Sea" (MoS) ro-ro service with the port of Cartagena, in southern Spain, Melilla, a Spanish enclave on the north coast of Morocco, and Naviera Armas, a shipping company serving the Canary Islands.
London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants is advising the partners on submitting an application to the EC for EU funding under the Marco Polo 2 programme, which finances projects that shift freight from roads to sea, rail and inland waterways.
Setting out the economic case for the service, the port of Sète’s Commercial Manager, Arnaud Rieutort, told IFW: “There is very strong potential to develop freight traffic flows of fruit and vegetable shipments from the Andalusia region and Morocco.
“There is also scope to generate north-south traffic flows, especially in the form of manufactured goods to Spain and Morocco – Melilla being not only an important distribution hub for exports from the North African state and further afield, but for imports too.
“There is the prospect of a fast ship and zero truck kilometres between southern France, southern Spain and Morocco.”
A consultant at Drewry said: “There is room for optimism that economic viability can be achieved, given that three ports are behind it and there is a possibility of public funding.
“A key selling point is that the borders between France and Spain are among the most congested areas for truck traffic in Europe and this MoS service can play a part in relieving traffic bottlenecks.”
Rieutort said the partners in the project were also looking for state funding from France and Spain to launch the service.
In September 2010, France’s LD Lines launched a France-Spain MoS service between Nantes-Saint-Nazaire and Gijon with three weekly round-trips. The service benefits from €30 million of state aid from France and Spain over a four-year period, as well as a €4 million subsidy, spread over seven years, from the EU.
“There is a lot of ground to cover, but a launch date of end-2012/early-2013 for the Sète-Cartagena-Melilla triangular service can’t be ruled out,” Rieutort added.
Courtesy of IFW
