Port of Marseille
Port Commerce

The Marseille-Fos Port Authority manages the harbors of Marseille and Fos, some 25 nautical miles northwest of the Port of Marseille. In addition to the port facilities in Marseille, the Port of Marseille-Fos is the only port in southern Europe that offers tri-modal transport via rivers, rail, and road.

Daily rail connections and modern highway networks link the Port of Marseille-Fos to all major European cities. The Port of Marseille-Fos is linked to the terminals in Lyon by barge via France's waterway network, Medlink. Four dedicated roll-on/roll-off terminals allow the Port of Marseille-Fos to deliver over 4.4 million tons of cargo through the Medlink system, and new projects are underway in both Fos and the Port of Marseille to expand this function.

The Mourepiane Container Terminal in the Port of Marseille opened in 1990 to receive Panamax container vessels. The 32-hectare terminal has 952 meters of quay with five berthing stations from 152 to 157 meters long allowing maximum draft from 10.5 to 11.5 meters. Current capacity is over 250 thousand TEUs per year. The storage park at the Port of Marseille's Mourepaine Terminal has capacity for about 7.8 thousand TEUs, including 120 sites for cooled containers. INTRAMAR has the cargo-handling concession for the terminal, and the terminal is highly-secured with security patrols, controlled access, and remote monitoring. In 2007, the Mourepaine terminal handled 2.2 million tons of cargo in 149 thousand TEUs.

Opening in 1998, the Southern Carrier Terminal in the Port of Marseille receives vessels carrying containers and all types of cargoes, including heavy-lift items. The 19.4-hectare terminal has capacity for two million tons of cargo per year. The Port of Marseille's Southern Carrier Terminal has 1.7 kilometers of quays and seven berthing stations for roll-on/roll-off traffic as well as one station for conventional cargoes. Maximum draft varies according to the cargo: 5 meters, 7.3 meters, and from 8.5 to 9 meters. The terminal contains three covered hangars near the quays with a total 20 thousand square meters of space, and the terminal is equipped with rail service. The Marseilles Handling Company has the concession for this terminal, which handled 1.5 million tons of cargo in 2007.

The Southern Terminal in the Port of Marseille's east basins was established in 2001 to serve carriers with mixed cargoes including containers. The five-hectare general-purpose terminal can accommodate all types of cargo, including iron and steel products, motor vehicles, and other bulk cargoes like wood and heavy-lift cargoes. The Port of Marseille's Southern Terminal can accommodate vessels to 550 DWT. With 990 meters of quay and six berthing stations with maximum draft between 6.5 and 9 meters, the quays include three stations for roll-on/roll-off cargoes, and the terminal is equipped with rail service. Cargo-handling is done by SOCOMAN Company. In 2007, the Southern Terminal handled about 130 thousand tons of cargo.

Opened in 2003, the Port of Marseille's Northern Terminal in the east basins is a general-purpose terminal that can serve all types of vessels with maximum capacity of 1.5 million tons. The 14-hectare terminal emphasizes container vessels and general cargoes. It offers 1.2 kilometers of quays with seven berthing stations accommodating vessels with maximum draft from 8.5 to 10.5 meters, including three stations for roll-on/roll-off traffic. Containing closed storage of three thousand square meters, the terminal is equipped with rail service. In 2007, this Port of Marseille terminal handled over 320 thousand tons of cargo.

Terminals in the Port of Marseille-Fos handle all types of cargoes. The Graveleau Terminal in the western basins serves over-Panamax container ships up to 97.5 thousand DWT. Created in 1973 and with capacity to handle 750 thousand containers, the Port of Marseille's Graveleau Terminal is located in the Gulf of Fos at the mouth of the River Rhone. The terminal contains almost 1.2 thousand meters of quay with five stations with maximum allowable draft of 14.5 meters. The terminal includes surface storage of 56 hectares, including installations for refrigerated containers, and a service zone of five hectares.

The Graveleau Terminal in the Port of Marseille-Fos is served by 800 meters of railway, facilities for fuelling and re-fuelling, and has six over-Panamax gantry cranes and two Panamax gantries with capacity for 40 tons. Cargo-handling companies in the terminal are Eurofox, operating a Container Freight Station, and Seayard. The terminal has inspection stations manned by the Departments of Agriculture and Forest, and it is a highly-secured facility with real-time inventory control systems. In 2007, the Graveleau Terminal handled 7.3 million tons of cargo in over 714 thousand TEUs. In addition to direct rail and road access, the terminal is served by many river shuttles.

The Port of Marseille-Fos' Quay Burn-Tobacco terminal was established in 1979 to serve general cargo carriers up to 80 thousand DWT. It handles a variety of cargoes including good intended for the iron and steel industry, wood, vehicles, and heavy parcels. In 2005, the terminal acquired two Panamax gantry cranes that enable the handling of containers. This 20.7-hectare terminal in the Port of Marseille has 647 meters of quay with three stations with maximum authorized draft of 11.5 meters. The terminal contains nine thousand square meters of closed hangar space and railway service. In 2007, the terminal handled a total of 371 thousand tons of cargo.

The Gloria Quay in the Port of Marseille-Fos' western basins is located at Port-Saint-Louis on the River Rhone. The quay can accommodate vessels to 40 thousand DWT and river units. With a working length of 259 meters, the quay has two stations with maximum draught of 10 meters. The 12-hectare closed quay also has facilities for fuelling and re-fuelling.

The Car Terminal at the east basins in the Port of Marseille-Fos has two terminals that serve the movement of vehicles. The Northern Pine Forest Terminal has 30 thousand square meters of closed and protected area serving Renault and Ford vehicles. The Port of Marseille-Fos' Beausejour Terminal covers 17.1 thousand square meters of closed and protected space. Rail service is in or very near the cargo-handling area.

The Bulk Alumina Terminal in the Port of Marseille's east basins handles imports and exports of alumina. The quay is 277 meters long a station imports with alongside depth of 9.7 meters, and a station for exports with alongside depth of 10 meters. Cargoes of calcined alumina are unloaded near the silo operated by Pechiney Aluminum Co., and hydrated alumina is exported at the Port of Marseille's Pier G. The terminal contains three thousand square meters of ground surface storage dedicated to hydrated alumina. Unloaded cargoes of calcinated alumina are moved directly to the silo by vacuum conveyors. In 2007, the Port of Marseille handled a total of 247 thousand tons of alumina.

Solid bulk cargoes are handled in the Port of Marseille-Fos' Tellines Basin. In 2005, the Tellines terminal handled 560 thousand tons of cereals and peat. Established in 1997 by the Association of Investment of Tellines in the Port-Saint-Louis industrial Zone on the River Rhone, the 16-hectare terminal was created to receive heavy-lift cargoes. It has 550 meters of quay with four stations with maximum authorized draft of 7.92 meters.

The Port of Marseille's "Tellines Port" serves the primary purpose of exporting cereals from the Rhone-Alps and Burgundy regions via the country's inland waterways. The terminal can handle and store a wide range of solid bulk cargoes. It offers a 30 thousand cubic meter storage bin as well as belt conveyors, sifters, mixers, palletizers, and a variety of equipment to support these cargoes. In 2007, the "Tellines Port" handled 432 thousand tons of cereals and peat.

The Port of Marseille-Fos operates a public Ore Tanker Terminal that receives tankers up 150 thousand DWT that travel up the River Rhone. This 1967 terminal also handled container ships and carriers until specialized terminals were created for those goods. Located at the outlet of the Rhone Channel, the 40-hectare Ore Tanker Terminal is well-placed to serve multi-modal transshipments in the Mediterranean region.

This?Port of Marseille terminal has 980 meters of deep-water quay with three deep-water stations (maximum draft of 16.5 meters) and one river station (maximum draft of 12.8 meters). It also contains fuelling and re-fuelling facilities. Sea Invest-CarFos is the concessionaire, and the terminal is served by the SNCF railway station and immediate road access. The Ore Terminal in the Port of Marseille-Fos has handled cargoes of bauxite, coal, petroleum coke, and clinker. In 2007, the terminal handled 2.8 million tons of seaborne cargo and 309 thousand tons of river cargo.

The Sugar Terminal in the east basins of the Port of Marseille started operating in 1980 to import bulk sugar to the sugar silo operated by Sugar Company Saint Louis. The terminal has one quay station that can accommodate ships to 200 meters long with maximum draft of 10.5 meters. The silo has capacity to store about 26 thousand tons and is dedicated to the single user and operator. In 2007, the terminal handled 135 thousand tons of cargo.

The Cereal Terminal in the east basins of the Port of Marseille is operated by the private silo company of Panzani. Conveyor belts move cargo from ship to silo. The terminal has one deep-water station with maximum authorized draught of 12.8 meters. In 2007, the terminal handled 30 thousand tons of cereals.

The Fruit Terminal is located partly in the northern basins of the Port of Marseille. Created in 1993 to receive fruit mainly from Israel and Africa, the terminal has temperature-controlled facilities for handling and storing fruits and vegetables as well as some containerized goods. The 7-hectare terminal has capacity for 50 thousand tons of cargo. The terminal has 685 meters of quay with six berthing stations with maximum draft of 14 meters. The Marseilles Handling Company has the concession for cargo-handling at the terminal. The terminal includes refrigerated warehouses for 59 thousand cubic meters. In 2007, the terminal handled 435 thousand tons of fruits and vegetables.

The Port of Marseille's liquid bulk terminal for oil and chemicals was opened in 1992 to handle edible oils, chemical oils, and some chemicals. Its quay contains four stations with maximum authorized draft of 10.5 meters. In 2007, the Port of Marseille handled 122 thousand tons of liquid bulk cargoes.

In 2005, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose to 3.9 million tons in the Port of Marseille. The liquid bulk terminals are located in the western basins of the Port of Marseille-Fos. Gaz de France has a dedicated quay for LNG imports that can accommodate methane tankers carrying 65 thousand cubic meters of cargo. The terminal for methane tankers has storage capacity for 35 cubic meters in two tanks and a reserve for 65 cubic meters. This Port of Marseille terminal has maximum capacity to store and distribute up to four million tons per year. Gaz de France established a second methane tanker terminal in the Fos industrial park. The new terminal will have capacity for 160 thousand cubic meters and will have capacity to treat 13.2 million tons per year.

The oil terminal in the western basins of the Port of Marseille-Fos began operations in 1967 with capacity for tankers of over 80 thousand DWT. The terminal has three stations specializing in importing crude oil which have been expanded to accommodate vessels to 300 thousand DWT with a draught of 22 meters. The oil terminal helps move products from the ESSO, Shell, Total, and BP refineries as well as the refineries located in inland areas near Lyon, Switzerland, and Germany.

The Port of Marseille-Fos western basins handles refined products as well. In 2005, almost 12 million tons of refined petroleum products passed through the Port of Marseille-Fos. The oil terminals of Lavera and the Fos industrial park can accommodate tankers up to 40 thousand DWT.

The Lavera industrial park in the Port of Marseille's western basins has stored liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in underground facilities since 1972. Geogaz has capacity for 300 thousand cubic meters, and Primagaz has capacity for 100 thousand cubic meters. These companies treat imports and exports of propane, commercial butane, and chemical butane. In 2005, the Lavera terminal handled almost two million tons of cargo. The Port of Marseille-Fos' Lavera terminal also handles chemical liquid bulk cargoes. In 2005, it handled some three million tons of chemical liquid bulk. The terminal has capacity to handle such chemicals as styrene, propylene, ethylene, methanol, soda, MtBE, and many others.

The Port of Marseille is a popular destination for cruise passengers, and over 20 major cruise lines visit the city each year. In 2006, 380 thousand passengers travelled through the Port of Marseille on 51 cruise stopovers. A cruise gateway to Provence, the Port of Marseille provides easy access to historic cities like Avignon, St. Paul de Vence, Aix, and Les Baux. The Port of Marseille handles "regular line" passengers traveling in to/from Mediterranean and North Africa. The reception facilities are modern and comfortable and include play areas for children and other amenities.

With capacity for about 200 thousand passengers, the Port of Marseille's Terminal 1 handles traffic bound for Corsica and Sardinia. Located in the Arenc sector about 800 meters from Terminal 2 in the Joliette Basin, the terminal is linked by subway with the St. Charles Railway station, and a free shuttle service moves passengers between Terminals 1 and 2. Also serving Corsica and Sardinia passengers, Terminal 2 serves over 700 travelers per year. The Port of Marseille-Corsica route is served by both ferries and passenger and cargo vessels.

The international stations for passengers in the Port of Marseille are Terminals 3 and 4 located on the quay at Joliette Street. They are dedicated to traffic between the Port of Marseille and Algeria and Tunisia and have French-Arabic signage, play areas for children, and special areas for worship. The terminals move some 620 thousand passengers each year. The terminals are equipped for the comfort of passengers that often arrive 24 hours or more before boarding their ships. The international stations have ample road and pedestrian access to the city. The terminals serve ferries carrying passengers to North Africa, and charter ships for those routes also use the terminals.

The Port of Marseille has six cruise terminals. The Joliette terminal station is located in the city center near one of the oldest basilicas in Marseille. Cruise passengers can walk from the port to downtown in as little as 10 minutes. The Port of Marseille can accommodate the largest cruise vessels on traveling the seas. The Marseilles Provence Cruise Center is a six thousand square meter facility that opened in 2003.

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