Marseilles Fos looks to quintuple box volume

Marseilles Fos looks to quintuple box volume    The port of Marseilles Fos said its supervisory board has approved port strategy and financing to 2013, including the transfer of container and dry bulk cargo handling to private operators — a requirement of the French port reform law passed last July.
   The port said it wants to boost cargo volumes from last year's 96 million tons to 150 million tons by 2020, and more than quintuple container volumes from 2008’s 850,000 TEUs to 5 million TEUs by 2020.
   The port said it will invest 600 million euros in “an integrated approach to development that optimizes economic, urban and environmental considerations; and the priority development of rail and waterways links with the hinterland.”
   The port said its container strategy hinges on building hinterland traffic. Acknowledging the need to ensure reliability and competitiveness, Marseilles Fos is aiming to be ranked among the top 10 European ports.
   Plans to boost container volumes include the Fos 2XL terminal due on stream in 2010, extension of the Distriport logistics zone and completion of a canal link between the container terminals and the inland waterways network.
   Future projects include the start of work on the Fos 3XL and Fos 4XL terminals before 2013, funded by public investment of 200 million euros to 300 million euros from the private sector. Road access to Fos is to be enhanced and capacity on the Fos rail network will be doubled via a signal modernization program, the port said.