The Port Authority of Strasbourg (PAS) and HAROPA, France’s largest container seaport grouping together the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris, signed a partnership agreement on 23 January, to enhance cooperation. The agreement is expected to enable both partners to build innovative and pertinent solutions contributing to the development of new trades and services strengthening the attractiveness of the port sites.
Namely, PAS and HAROPA wish to make a scheduled and high-performance rail service emerge, connecting their business areas in day A – Day B. This service is a business issue enabling Strasbourg to diversify the seaports served from its area and thus facilitate cargo export by Rhine companies. To cope with the growing congestion of the ports in the ARA zone generated by mega-containerships, an alternative solution via HAROPA will allow for gaining competitiveness in terms of transit times and transport costs.
In addition, the partners wish to improve the performance of the trans-European transport network, especially concerning the following corridors: Atlantic, North Sea-Mediterranean, Rhine-Alps and Rhine-Danube. Interport cooperation also aims at sharing good practices and experiences as regards port alliances.
Further, the cooperation will expand in the area of innovation, with interchange of good practices in terms of traffic management, smart cities/smart ports. The PAS will especially bring support to HAROPA in its approach of the industrial ecology.
“…PAS and HAROPA wish to communicate with one voice in Europe and abroad in order to have the strategic rank of France in port economy (both sea and river) heard and known. This cooperation will be mainly expressed by the organization of common business events and thematic workshops in France and abroad,” noted HAROPA.
