Efficiency improvement and future growth
The European Union will co-finance with 1.3 million from the TEN-T Programme a project to better optimise the ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) terminal in the French port of Dunkirk, in order to improve efficiency and ensure future growth.
The project, which was selected for funding under the 2012 TEN-T Annual Call, specifically concerns works to better optimise the space and traffic flow of the Port’s ro-ro terminal. The aim is to build a completely redesigned ro-ro terminal to improve efficiency, smoothen the traffic flow, reduce the stopover time of vessels and increase frequencies.
Due to the current terminal’s design, the stopover time is two hours with 12 calls per day, which does not provide margin for development or growth. Reducing the stopover time will permit the number of calls per day to be extended to 13 or 14. This development is important to the Port, which the third largest French maritime port, handling around 7,000 ships a year.
To achieve this objective the Port of Dunkirk requires the reorganisation of the terminal platform layout, the relocation of facilities and the installation of technical facilities.
Since the Port plans to pursue ro-ro traffic growth, the works will help to alleviate the existing bottlenecks that slow down the traffic flow between the ro-ro terminal and the hinterland. Their completion is expected to also have a positive impact on maritime transport and the environment.
Source and Image credit: EU Commission
