For the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille Fos, 2021 will not have been a bad year, far from it. The report presented this morning by Elisabeth Ayrault (acting chairman of the supervisory board) and Hervé Martel (chairman of the management board) indeed reported overall freight traffic of 75 million tonnes, up 9% on to the year 2020 very impacted by the pandemic. But down 5% compared to 2019, which remains the reference year.
In this result, two records, one of which is historic: containerized traffic which for the first time in history is close to 1.5 million boxes handled at the Marseille and Fos terminals; then an increase in the power of rail, which last year transported 220,000 containers. The general cargo segment, of which containerized traffic is a part, grew by 10% (+ 2% compared to 2019). Another satisfaction: trailer traffic increased by 3% compared to 2019.
The liquid bulk segment, for its part, totaled traffic of 43 million tonnes, including 20 million tonnes of crude oil. While the latter is shrinking from year to year, the share of liquefied natural gas is on the other hand progressing regularly, Marseille-Fos having the ambition to become a hub.
Finally, the dry bulk sector totals traffic of 12 million tonnes, up 18% compared to 2020, driven by the good performance of the steel industry. The black spot remains cruises, with only 350,000 registered passengers and a future that remains uncertain due to the pandemic.
The bulk of the activity is attached to the regular lines, including 623,000 passengers on Corsica as part of territorial continuity and 260,000 passengers on the Maghreb. That is a total of 1.2 million passengers welcomed at the port.
Another point underlined in this report: the emphasis placed on renewable energies. The electricity produced will be used in particular to supply ships connected to the quay. Finally, the GPMM is intensifying its action in favor of the decarbonization of its industrial port area of Fos. The partnership agreement signed with the operator H2V to produce green hydrogen by electrolysis should contribute to this. An investment of 750 million euros, one of the largest that the port of Marseille Fos has seen in its history.