A REVOLUTION STILL IN THE MAKING

"Revolution is like childbirth: wonderful, yet painful". This statement, made by one of the ministers of the post-Ben Ali interim Tunisian government, epitomizes the ambiguity of the current situation in the country. The Tunisian people set the Maghreb region alight with a popular movement demanding more democracy, freedom, jobs and distribution of the country's wealth, challenging the dictator Ben Ali who has been in power for 23 years. In the course of one month, and at great risk to their lives, the people of Tunisia managed to topple a regime, considered by international investors, to be one of the most open and secure in the area.

Nobody could have predicted such an uprising and its rapid conclusion, nor its spread to the rest of the Arab world, from Libya to Syria, Egypt and Morocco. read more

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IT WAS 60 YEARS AGO...

May 14, 1951, the Douce France was being loaded at the port of La Lave in Marseilles. The 36 meter long motor sailing vessel loaded 300 tons of cement to Bizerte, 17 tons and 395 kilos of gas bottles and 20 tons of general cargo.
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MARFRET PART­NERS CARIBBEAN SHIPPING EXECUTIVES CONFERENCE

From 15th to 18th May, the Union Maritime et Portuaire de la Gua­deloupe and the island's port authority are jointly organizing the Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference, being held under the auspices of the Caribbean Shipping Association. read more

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30 000

That's the number of IMDG requests pro­ces­sed by our Hazard good Dpt, located in England, since 2006, using Hazcheck Gateway, a web-based validation tool to check dangerous goods ship­ments by sea for compliance with IMDG Code and 49CFR pro­visions and any pre-entered port, operator and vessel restrictions. read more

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ATLANTIC LUSOFRETE AEO-CERTIFIED

We are pleased to announce that Atlantic Lusofrete, Marfret's Por­tugal agent since 2002, has been certified as an AEO (Authorised Eco­nomic Operator) by the Portuguese customs authorities.
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UNITED KINGDOM
OLYMPIC GAMES, WILLIAM AND KATE ARE NO SILVER LINING

The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton has done little to disperse the British public's gloom over the spending cuts announced in 2010. Weakened by two years of recession, the United Kingdom is now trying to get back on the right track. The recovery remains fragile however, with growth figures of only 0.5% for the first quarter of 2011.

The United Kingdom, which reported a record deficit in 2010 of £ 148.9 bn, has begun a crash diet under its first coalition government (Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats) since 1945 with the aim of reducing public spending by £ 6.2 bn. "The banking sector was badly hit by the crisis. Our economy is shaky at the moment and the next five years will be hard," predicts Neil Wiggins, director of IVOPS, the company handling Marfret's vessels in the UK. read more

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EMBARGO: CONTROVERSY OVER IMMEDIATE APPLICATION OF "SANCTIONS CLAUSE"

Faced with the bloody repression in certain countries such as Iran, Libya and Syria, western powers have begun implementing retaliatory measures. Insurers are invoking a "sanctions clause" that immediately revokes insurance cover for shippers and shipowners trading with the countries concerned.

Stiff sanctions with immediate effect are currently being put into place by the United Nations Security Council, the United States' government and the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council against some Mediterranean Rim countries.

In addition to a ban on arms sales and a freezing of assets, de facto embargoes have been placed on the Gaddafi regime in Libya, the Ben Ali clique in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria with immediate effect read more

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FEEDER SERVICE BETWEEN THE SEINE AND PORT 2000

With no river link existing between the new terminal and the port of Le Havre (and therefore the Seine), MARFRET has come up with a solution.

The concentration of sea freight traffic handled daily, requires more than ever the channelling of landed consignments to be managed with cost effective transport solutions, especially at Port 2000. Opened by the Port of Le Havre in 2006 and with 1400 metres of quayside, the terminal has been a necessary addition to stake the Seine estuary's claim as the leading gateway to Northern Europe.

MARFRET positioned itself within this perspective as early as 2005. Despite the industrial action that since impacted the ports of Le Havre and Rouen, we managed to develop three quite diverse river transport facilities on the Seine namely containers for international traffic between Gennevilliers, Rouen and Le Havre, reels of paper outward from the UPM Kymmene factory, and the return of compressed bales of recycled paper, incinerator waste products and ordinary industrial waste in the Paris area for Veolia Group. read more

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MARFRET Compagnie Maritime 13, Quai de la Joliette 13002 Marseille