25 August 2015
After signing with the Nord-Pas de Calais Region the delegated public service concession agreement for the unified port of Boulogne-sur-Mer Calais on 19 February, the new concession operator, Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit (Straits Port Operations Company), has become the operator of the Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais ports since 22 July 2015.
A new 50-year concession arrangement
The Region entrusts the concession operator, Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit, with management, operation, maintenance and infrastructure and superstructure development for the single port. The concession arrangement was signed for a term of 50 years.
Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit chose an innovative shareholder structure associating its employees, who will own almost 5% of the capital, with the Opal Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nord de France Region, CDC Infrastructure and Meridiam.
Boulogne Calais Port: a single port
The concession agreement makes the Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais facilities a Single Port. The development strategy should allow a balanced rapid expansion of the two facilities and ensure complementarity of their activities:
- At Boulogne-sur-Mer, it consecrates the port’s position as leader in the fields of fishing and seafoods, through new investments to upgrade its fishing industry facilities.
- At Calais, the new concession arrangement allows the implementation of “Calais Port 2015”, a major port infrastructure designed to strengthen the European integration of the facility and its position as leader in the cross-Channel transport of passengers and cargo.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, President of Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit, says: “The transfer of operations is a highlight in the life of the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais. This is the starting point of a new adventure which will enable these two ports to form a single, coherent whole”…
Press contact:
Isabelle Fauquet
Tél : 03 21 46 29 10 / GSM : 07 85 54 04 47
