Three new terminals, intended to accommodate more ocean liners of scale, will be built in Le Havre by 2025 with an investment of 100 million euros, the mayor and former prime minister Edouard Philippe announced on Monday.
The goal is to accommodate 600,000 cruise passengers in 2030 with around 200 stops, compared to around 350,000 in 2022 with 125 stops. Before the pandemic, the city had welcomed 420,000 cruise passengers and 145 stopovers in 2018, a record year.
A 100 million euro project
The cost of the project is 100 million euros, including 60 million for the development and construction of the terminals. This component is financed by the Regional Council of Normandy (15 million), the Seine Métropole Urban Community (15 million) and a loan of 30 million from the Group of Public Interest (GIP) of Le Havre Croisières, created for this purpose by the Community Urbana and Puerto Haropa. Some 40 million euros -20 million from the State and 20 million from the Port of Haropa- are also planned for port infrastructure.
In 2023, 153 stopovers are already scheduled, for some 400,000 cruise passengers.
“Zero smoke” scales and electrified platforms
It is also an “urban development” project, stressed the mayor, also president of the Horizontes party, one of the components of the presidential majority. These new terminals will be built at Pointe de Floride, currently occupied by old hangars, where, however, cruise ships are already housed.
Equipped with a green promenade, this site will become a space open to the public, with a panoramic view of the city, “maintaining its port dimension”, said Edouard Philippe. After a consultation in 2021, the selected project is that of the Enia and Bettinger Desplanques agencies, associated with Legendre Génie civil. “At the entrance to the port of Le Havre, visible from everywhere, this new development had to be iconic and memorable,” said Brice Piechaczyk, architect.
For Edouard Philippe, at a time when the nuisance of transatlantic liners is disputed in several ports, this project should be welcomed positively. “We are reconnecting with a Le Havre tradition (…) Here the activity of cruise ships is historical and adds to that of the container in a large commercial port. The people of Le Havre are very attached to her”, assured the mayor, adding:
Source: BFM TV
