The La Rochelle Harbor Port Authority was created in 1890 to expand and improve the old harbor and the Port of La Pallice and to develop and maintain port infrastructure, provide security, and manage harbor lands. As of 2006, it was France’s eighth largest Port Authority.
The Port of La Pallice is France’s only Atlantic deep-water port, with a depth of 13.5 meters. The Port of La Pallice harbor is protected by the Re and Oleron islands. The West berth is 350 meters long with alongside depth of 16.5 meters, and the East berth is 300 meters long with alongside depth of 13.5 meters. The Port of Pallice contains two oil terminals with capacity for 450 cubic meters.
The Port of La Pallice contains sophisticated and well-equipped facilities for ship-building and repair. Dry dock 1 is 176 meters long with alongside depth of 4.5 meters, and Dry Dock 2 is 107 meters long with alongside depth of 3.5 meters. The Port of La Pallice’s naval repair area has a six thousand square meter repair apron and two floating repair docks.
A total of 7.6 million tons of cargo traveled through the Port of La Pallice in 2006, including
- 2.5 million tons of refined petroleum
- 2.3 million tons of cereals
- 891 thousand tons of sand and concrete
- 507 thousand tons of paper products
- 505 thousand tons of agricultural bulk, primarily solid bulk
- 253.3 thousand tons of industrial bulk
- 204.3 thousand tons of sawn timber
- 187 thousand tons of conventional cargoes
- 182 thousand tons of logs
- 112.3 thousand tons of general merchandise
- 36.2 thousand tons of metal products
- 17.5 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo
As a port of call, the Port of La Pallice has excellent facilities to receive cruise ships and passengers. The Port of La Pallice’s cruise berths are just six kilometers from the La Rochelle city center. The berths, located at the Mole d’Escale, are 350 meters (west) with alongside depth of 10.5 meters and 540 meters (east) with alongside depths from 12 to 13 meters. The Port of La Pallice passenger terminal has full services, including bank and exchange facilities, shops, restaurants, ground transportation, and a post office.
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