Signature of the Concession Agreement for the Ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais

19 February 2015

19 February 2015

On 19 February 2015, the Nord-Pas de Calais Region, owner of the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit signed the new Concession Agreement for the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais, for a term of 50 years, in the presence of representatives of the Region and the local authorities concerned, the shareholders of the two companies (Operating and Project), the contractors who will be in charge of carrying out the work on the extension to the Port of Calais “Calais Port 2015“, and the financial institutions backing the investments.

Mr Jean-Marc Puissesseau (on the left), President of the new Société d’Exploitation des Ports de Détroit and Mr Daniel Percheron (on the right), president of the Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council, sign the single port concession agreement for the next 50 years.

The new 50-year concession transforms the Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais facilities into a single port.

It helps strengthen the leading position of Boulogne-sur-Mer in the fishery and seafood markets, with new investments to upgrade the facilities for the fishing industry in terms of services to fishermen as well as product logistics:

Investments in the “port of the future”’ and sustainable development, to anticipate the future refuelling needs of fishing vessels and innovative energy charging systems, and also to adapt the facilities in order to reduce discharges into the sea;
Investments to develop the tourism, yachting and cruise markets;
Investments to develop fishing, the Capécure enterprise zone, and fishing and logistic operations;
To these investments will be added direct investments by the Region.

In Calais, the new concession will enable completion of the “Calais Port 2015” project, representing an investment of about €650 million. The project involves:

The creation of a new seawall about 3 miles long and a dock with a surface area of 90 hectares essential to any development of the Port of Calais;
The creation of 44 hectares of new quayage using material dredged from the dock, in a balanced cut-and-fill approach;
The construction of berths for the latest-generation mega-ferries;
The developments required for road and rail connections;
A rail/road/sea terminal at the contact point of the future rail and maritime superhighways from southern France, but also from the rest of Europe.

Complementary skills and the participation of Europe

The signing of the Concession Agreement was made possible by a combination of complementary skills: those of the Opal Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Port of Dunkirk (Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque), the investors CDC Infrastructure and Meridiam, those of the design and construction consortium, formed by companies from the Bouygues, Spie Batignolles and Jan de Nul groups, and those of the financiers: Allianz GI, who accepted the principle of participation in the project on behalf of the Allianz Group and third-party investors by underwriting a bond issue for €525 million, in addition to the contribution of more than €117 million by equity investors, and the support of the European Investment Bank.

These commitments reduced the total amount of subsidies to €270 million. In addition, the French government decided to participate in financing the port and Europe showed its willingness to do the same.

The development strategy for the two ports is that of a single port enriched by the potential of both the facilities.

The aim is to balance the development of the two ports by developing the complementarity of their operations, and complementarity in general between the ports on the Opal Coast and the Channel Tunnel. The establishment of the delegated public service contract will help develop the economy of the Opal Coast and of the region as a whole, through job creations and new tax revenues for the local authorities.

The decision taken by the Nord-Pas de Calais Region and the signature of the concession agreement mark an historic step for the Opal Coast, the Nord-Pas de Calais region, for France and for Europe.

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