EDITO

Marfret is lucky to have a network of some hundred top-notch shipping agents in over thirty-five countries. For a company of our size, they represent a very strong asset.

Our agents are our representatives in the ports served by Marfret, they represent the brand Marfret and contribute very strongly to the good reputation our company enjoys all over the world. I often tell them that they must share our values, stand up for our flag and be proactive in the protection of the company's interests, of the brand from Quai de la Joliette 13 *. read more

comment this article

MARFRET ATTENDS THE 2010 HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Marfret has sponsored a winning entry at this years Henley Royal Regatta the most prestigious event on the rowing calendar held each year at Henley on Thames in Great Britain. The event was attended this year by 505 crews competing for several cups.
read more

comment this article

FRENCH-SPANISH SEA HIGHWAY: CASTING OFF IN SEPTEMBER

The first French-Spanish sea highway will start in September. Operated jointly by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Grimaldi Lines under the GLD Atlantique flag, this line will be run by a ro-pax with a capacity of 150 trucks and 800 passengers and serve the ports of Nantes Saint-Nazaire and Gijon.
read more

comment this article

RIVER TRANSPORT: MARFRET LISTED BY A MAJOR DEPARTMENT STORE

For the second conse­cutive year, Marfret's subsidiary Fluvio-Feeder has been chosen by a major large department store for the carriage of their merchandise on inland waterways. The containers coming from Asia are discharged in Dunkirk or Zeebrugge then forwarded to Lille by river barge.
read more

comment this article

TWO STOWAWAYS IN A CONTAINER

It's a recurring risk on our North Africa lines, as stowaways manage to get onboard ships. Recently, two of them were discovered on board the Marfret Méjean on arrival at Marseilles. They had been locked up in a container!
read more

comment this article

PANAMA CANAL
SHIPOWNERS MADE TO PAY FOR THE EXPANSION.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced last April an increase of the transit tolls of 8 to 16% depending on the features of the ships and of their cargo. This increase, which will be in part used to finance the estimated $5.25 billions the expansion of the canal will cost, has ruffled many feathers among shipowners.

Is this modern day extortion? Every year, between 12,000 and 13,000 ships sail through the Panama Canal*. This waterway between the Pacific and the Atlantic represents literally a gold mine. Marfret's CEO, Bernard Vidil, stresses this by mentioning the $12 millions that must be paid every year to have the 6 ships sailing on the NASP line -jointly operated with CMA-CGM- use the Canal. read more

comment this article

ENVIRONMENT: SULPHUR IS ABOUT TO SEND TRANSPORT PRICES THROUGH THE ROOF.

Since July 1st 2009 new international regulations require ships sailing in the North Sea, in the Baltic Sea and the English Channel to limit their sulphur emissions at 1% instead of 3.5%. This new situation does have some consequences on the sea freight and on the technical maintenance of the ships

In an effort to scale down sea transport's ecological footprint in an area with heavy merchant ship traffic, a new regulation by the IMO has laid down a reduction of sulphur emissions from 3.5% to 1% starting last July. Applied for the moment in the North Sea, in the ECA (Emission Control Area). read more

comment this article

MARFRET PUTS ITS HOPES ON REEFERS

The transport of perishable goods by sea expanding strongly, Marfret is investing to take a share of that market. In four years, our activities in this field have increased tenfold.

The transport of goods that require temperature control has a sustained growth, with a two-digit growth rate. Marfret therefore decided four years ago to enter that market. «The first year, we had 200 to 300 reefers and in 2010 our activity should be ten times more important» says the line manager of the South America-Northern Europe line, Arthur Fournel..read more

comment this article

MARFRET Compagnie Maritime 13, Quai de la Joliette 13002 Marseille