Amid social unrest, river transport shows its advantages.

Once again, river transport has shown its appropriateness. While the ports were heavily impacted by the strikes over the recent law on extending retirement age, Marfret and its FFA subsidiary were working flat out to evacuate goods stuck at Le Havre.

While all road access to the Le Havre terminals was closed, our FFA subsidiary’s Lydia was able to evacuate 300 TEUs to the port of Rouen at each port call. This river-ocean vessel does not have to negotiate any locks on the Seine between Le Havre and Rouen, a huge advantage when lockkeepers are on strike.

We witnessed a substantial increase in volumes on the Lydia and the arrival of a new clientele realizing the efficiency of this massified and environmentally friendly solution for their pre- and post-carriage requirements.

The mobilization and responsiveness of our teams also allowed the Marfret Niolon to call at Rouen on 21st March last instead of Le Havre, which meant cargo arriving from the West Indies and French Guiana could be dispatched on barges to the Paris area.

It is worth reminding that Marfret offers 14 days free time at it Rouen hub, against only four provided by Le Havre.

Together, through their efforts, Marfret and its FFA branch have demonstrated both the outstanding success of the river alternative from Le Havre and the need to enhance the visibility of Rouen Vallée de Seine. It is a virtuous model, and guaranteeing its continued existence is vital without waiting for road transport to grind to a halt once again.

Massive investment in new 20’ and 40’ reefers for the Pacific routes

The 20’ reefer still has a bright future! Even though shipping companies, in a bid to boost productivity, are progressively ditching the smaller format in favour of the 40’, Marfret has chosen to adapt to its customers’ requirements and offer a mix for greater flexibility.

Productivity, savings, or shippers’ satisfaction? On balance, Marfret considers that its customers’ take precedence and is offering Australian and New Zealand shippers a choice of 20’ and 40’ containers for their temperature-controlled export consignments.

Bucking the trend put in place by cellular container ship operators, who opt for 40’ containers in order to lower handling costs, Marfret is partially replacing the 750 20’ reefers actually on lease with brand new, wholly owned boxes on order from CIMC in Taicang, China.

“The purchase of 300 20’ reefers shows our long-term commitment to this market. Once delivered at the end of May, the containers will be shipped directly to Australia and New Zealand from Shanghai,” says Marfret’s managing director Guillaume Vidil. This new order follows the purchase of 300 40’HC reefers delivered in February 2023. “Two hundred of these were shipped to Melbourne, Brisbane and Tauranga and 100 to the Caribbean,” adds Gilles Gallinaro, Marfret’s logistics manager. The reefer boxes are intended for the major beef and lamb export traffics out of Australia and New Zealand, mainly to the United States. With 520,000 tonnes equivalent carcass weight exported each year, this is one of the most important sectors of the Australian economy, worth 1.23bn$ annually. “Marfret’s decision to continue providing 20’ reefers follows shipping companies’ withdrawal from the market, since customers need the two types of container depending on the type and volumes of goods being shipped,” explains Véronique Passarelli, NASP (North Atlantic South Pacific) line manager.  

Marfret Pacific zone agents’ conference

The customers’ requests to make 20’ reefers available was a major discussion topic at the conference of Marfret’s Pacific zone agents that took place in New Zealand last February.

“The get-together was an opportunity to strengthen ties between agents and identify potential synergies between regions as well as opportunities,” adds Passarelli. The possibility of a regional services was another topic of discussion; Marfret has operated services to Oceania since 1995.

During their visit to Tahiti, Guillaume Vidil and Véronique Passarelli, together with Marfret’s local representative Hervé Godard, were received by the President of French Polynesia and his ministers.

It was an opportunity for Guillaume Vidil to underline the company’s attachment to Papeete, the flagship port call on its NASP service and gateway to all of Polynesia’s islands for fresh produce from France.

Marfret to exhibit at Breakbulk Europe

Marfret will be exhibiting in Rotterdam at the Breakbulk Europe trade fair from 6 to 8 June. Housed in the Haropa pavilion, stand 2D31, our teams will be meeting with industrialists and freight forwarders to promote the advantages of our maritime transport offer, particularly in conventional transport. “This is an important trade fair that allows us to be as close as possible to our customers and port players in the Northern range where General cargo and Roll on-Roll off activities are very present”, underlines Martial Bienvenu, head of the Marfret agency in Le Havre, enthusiastic about the idea of creating new opportunities.

Marfret’s MPV line will be particularly highlighted: this service, operated by the Marfret Niolon with a capacity of 1,212 linear metres, carries non-containerisable freight (rolling, conventional), as well as sensitive freight requiring a detailed knowledge of customs procedures, between Dégrad-des-Cannes, Pointe-à-Pitre, Antwerp and Le Havre. This service can also reach other ports on inducement, according to the specific requests of our customers.

9,600 visitors are expected at the Ahoy Convention Centre with the 2023 edition focusing on nuclear and wind energy and the future of logistics.