Three questions for Marfret managing director Guillaume Vidil

You took over at the head of Marfret mid-2019, a real baptism of fire given the events that followed. How have these last three years been?

I embarked on my maritime adventure beginning with strikes at the French ports at the end of 2019, then the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the simultaneous challenge of initiating energy transition at the company. A heavy swell will test a ship’s strength and resilience. Marfret not only managed to stay on heading with regard to its existing lines, it also opened up to new horizons with the launch of the Multipurpose Vessel conventional service connecting Le Havre and Antwerp with French Guiana and the West Indies, and then a new line between Egypt and Italy. These new services are proof that Marfret puts actions above words and is experimenting  incrementally both with new shipboard technologies and in the digital transformation of our booking system.

In 2022, and for the second consecutive year, you were awarded the Choiseul Prize, which rewards the 100 leading figures in the economic sphere in France, and you also became chairman of the CMAF (Marseille chapter of the French Shipowners’ Association).  What challenges lie ahead?

Marseille is a dynamic port is a dynamic port community with a common vision on leading issues, including air pollution. The holding of the second edition of the Blue Maritime Summit in October 2022 is proof of shipowners’ staunch commitment to pre-empt regulations in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, we have signed three agreements with cruise operators, the Pôle Mer Méditerranée and Atmosud to set up a database, discuss issues openly and put in place more virtuous actions. The presence of the Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs Hervé Berville was important in a context in which the Mayor of Marseille, by launching an anti-ship petition, had set the residents against the port. It was an unprecedented situation and one that upset the shipping world. Another challenge is the promotion of the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime; incidentally, the CMAF has decided to allocate a budget dedicated to advancing seamens’ careers.     

Bernard and Raymond Vidil have taken a back seat regarding the company’s daily running. How have the tasks been redistributed?

The transition period seems to be finished now. It’s true that Bernard and Raymond Vidil have stepped back from the operational side, from the daily running, but they still occupy a major strategic role. By chairing and being members of Marfret’s supervisory board, they contribute their vision and set the heading.  By detaching themselves from their daily tasks, they now have time to take care of fleet transactions and present our viewpoints in dealings with various institutions and administrations.

Artist Residency

Since 2007, Marfret has been hosting artists in residence. Until now, these residencies have taken place on land in our offices and at sea on board our ships. As the Covid-19 pandemic has limited access to the ships, we have opened an artist’s studio a few steps away from our Head office, at 13 bis quai de la Joliette.
We are currently hosting the artist Pierre-Marie Vergnes for a two-year period. In his series Entre Présent et Présence, painted in oils, the port’s infrastructures, its cranes, its container ships, all its colours blend harmoniously with scenes of urban life where the diversity of lifestyles are united by one constant: the omnipresent exchange between the men and women to whom the artist gives life, between the city and its port.

Pierre-Marie Vergnes’ work is a good illustration of our approach to residencies: each one is above all a meeting between the artist, our sedentary teams and our crews. The artist offers our teams, who are maritime professionals, a new perspective on their activity, allowing them to see it differently, in all its sensory and emotional dimensions. The works of art resulting from these encounters are then shared with our clients and partners during exhibitions that we hold in the port chosen by Marfret and the artist from among all those on our ships’ itineraries.

Marfret and Xavier Macaire – a long-term partnership.

Having already sponsored the yachtsman in 2020 on the Solitaire du Figaro, Marfret has decided to renew its partnership with Xavier Macaire in 2022.

The collaboration takes on even more significance this year since, after winning the Drheam Cup last July, Xavier will be taking part in the Route du Rhum, which leaves Saint Malo on 6th November for Guadeloupe, an island we have been serving for more than 40 years. Who knows if he might even pass a Marfret ship in the middle of the Atlantic? One thing is for certain: it will be aboard one of them, the Marfret Niolon, that Xavier Macaire’s Class40 yacht will be travelling back to France after the race.

Beyond the financial and logistical support, the partnership is a moment of fruitful exchanges between the Marfret teams and Xavier Macaire and his crew. This was certainly the case on 7th September last, when our staff were treated to a day sailing with Xavier Macaire on his Class40, one that left them impressed with the yacht’s outstanding performance!