CARGOCONNECT-MAY23 - Flipbook - Page 54
first inland port of France with
more than 70 platforms in the
Île-de-France Region. If we put
that together, link by a river as
compared to the link of logistics,
it is a key asset to the growth
of global supply chains.
With the merger, we were
granted €1.45 billion, to develop
our infrastructures, to ease the
multimodality – by making new
rail links, and building dedicated access for inland barges
to directly reach Port 2000 –
our main container terminal
in Le Havre. We already have
the multimodal terminal in Le
Havre – supporting two different
objectives – to get the goods, exit
the terminals more quickly and
efficiently. In the same time, we
are using these funds to green
the infrastructures, and we will
be fully Onshore Power Supply
(OPS) ready by 2028, which
means achieving the goal two
years ahead of the European
regulation to impose the OPS –
the container vessels will have to
be plugged on an electric system
in order to shut down the fossilfuel engine, when calling at the
port in all the European ports
for 2030. Hence, for us, this is
a huge investment, as we aim
to be CO2-neutral by 2030. The
next step is to see how we can
fasten and go ahead in terms
of multimodal collection and
hinterland transport.
For greening, there is no
competition between ports, we
all have to work together. This
was something also proposed
during our trip in India – to
have a green corridor between
HAROPA PORT and India. If we
fail in greening the maritime
transport, then there will be
no future for ports.
While import volumes remain
low, the tight labour market
and strong wages are helping
consumers absorb the impact
of inflation and continue
to spend. What cannot be
ignored is the declining
volume of imports at the
major ports, which have seen
some dramatic year-over-year
reductions as carriers offer
54 | CARGOCONNECT MAY 2023
same at Indian ports. The thing
to be bought/covered through
the international network is the
high apiage, and also maybe
sharing the best practices by
upholding the bilateral relations
between France and India, in
order to be more effective for
the storage and good production
of this kind of energy.
a mix of ‘blanked’ sailings,
changes in ports of call
and removal of capacity by
increasingly laying up ships.
How does your company plan
to deal with this obstacle,
and strategise for a better
scenario?
Last year was a very good year.
If you look at the result of the
ports in the northern range, we
are still on the increased rates,
for the second year in a row - we
got through the 3.1 million TEUs,
so it was a good result. However,
we are very confident, as we have
the chance to put up nuclear
power stations in order to obtain
cheaper decarbonised energy,
which is the case in Germany
and Belgium. Here, Germany
was heavily impacted with all
the European sanctions, Russian
gas, and hence, we tried to help
them to export gas from France
to Germany. This aspect could
explain that the inflation rates
are lower in France today as
compared to Germany, Belgium
and Netherlands.
As part of the Green Shipping
Initiative of Maritime India
Vision 2030, the Ministry of
Ports, Shipping and Waterways will develop 3 major
Indian ports as hydrogen
hubs. The Ministry intends to
increase the share of renewable energy to 60 per cent
of the total power demand
of each of its major ports,
from a present share of less
than 10 per cent. What would
GIVEN THE EXISTING
STRATEGY IN PLACE
FOR THE SPECIAL
RAIL FREIGHT CORRIDOR BETWEEN
DELHI AND OTHER
PORTS, IT’S A GOOD
THINGS IN THE
INTERIM. NEXT STEP
INVOLVES WORKING
ON THE ACCESS TO
PORTS IN ORDER
TO BE SURE THAT
THE BIG CONTAINER
VESSELS WOULD
STAY AT AN INDIAN
PORT AND THEN GO
ELSEWHERE.
be the important takeaways
for your company, in view of
this initiative?
The goal is interesting as well
as challenging. Today, it is very
difficult for the companies in
ports, as well as in other types
of industries, because we don’t
know how to exactly handle
hydrogen, how to store it,
understanding the right kind of
infrastructure needed, regarding its safety, and risks – which
is connected to the same topic
of greening of the maritime
transport system. Ports have
to work together in order to
speed up the process – because
the hydrogen storage built in
Le Havre could exactly be the
Given the India Inc. policy,
companies could work
together to create innovation clusters—economic hubs
where capital, expertise and
talent collaborate on new or
nascent technologies; Indian
companies can strengthen
their resilience by building
stronger relationships with
suppliers and localising operations, and as the global supply chains shift, India could
use its low labour costs and
manufacturing expertise to
capture up to US$1.2 trillion
in global trade flows by 2030.
What would be the potential
impact of this policy on the
ocean freight industry?
For me, the key point concerning
ocean freight in India is – the
capacity of the Indian ports,
especially in terms of draught
that the Indian ports can
offer tomorrow for container
vessels. For instance, today,
in order to accommodate the
biggest container vessels, you
must have at least a 17-metre
draught. This is not the case
everywhere across Indian ports.
As India holds the key assets to
succeed, to make this figure real,
is how to improve the access to
the country’s ports and to ease
the logistics scheme. Given the
existing strategy in place for
the special rail freight corridor
between Delhi and other ports,
it’s a good things in the interim.
Next step involves working on
the access to ports in order to
be sure that the big container
vessels would stay at an Indian
port and then go elsewhere. So,
the challenge is: how to offer an
efficient and deep-sea access to
such mega ships, and if done and
provided, I’m quite sure about
the shift from China to India.