The Port Authority of Strasbourg and HAROA will work together in four areas of interest, which include rail, river and sea, innovation, and promotional capabilities.
The Port Authority of Strasbourg (PAS) in France and port operator HAROPA of the Port of Le Havre have inked an agreement regarding four areas of cooperation – in rail, river and sea, innovation, and promotional capabilities, PAS said.
Within the rail sector, PAS and HAROPA aim to create scheduled and high-performance rail services to aid in diversifying regional seaports and facilitate cargo export by Rhine companies, PAS said. The port authority cited growing congestion from mega containerships, which HAROPA has agreed to alleviate via rail services towards the east.
“The Port Authority of Strasbourg carries on its initiatives in favor of tomorrow’s mobility,” PAS Executive Director Jean-Louis Jérôme said. “Together with HAROPA, our efforts will focus on the challenges to take up in order to connect the waterways: the development of a new rail service, of sustainable and virtuous logistics chains, the use of digital innovations to optimize the flows.”
Regarding marine services, the two entities will continue to connect via the HAROPA EIG (Economic Interest Group), which has encompassed the ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris since 2012. PAS is also developing a new container terminal in Lauterbourg, France, slated for opening in the summer of 2018.
“Always looking for innovative solutions to give momentum to the sector of sea and river transport, the partnership with the Port Authority of Strasbourg will allow for connecting two port systems at the leading edge of innovation, whether it is as regards port governance, environmental policy or even logistics,” HAROPA EIG Deputy Director Antoine Berbain said.
Innovation and promotional capabilities both include collaboration in ideas and technology. The two entities have agreed to give “very special attention to the interchange of good practices in terms of traffic management, smart cities/smart ports,” with PAS contributing its CLES system approach used successfully in France. Promotionally, PAS and HAROPA will organize common business events and thematic workshops in France and abroad.
“Together, we have the ambition to play a major part within the trans-European transport network by working on the development of the hinterlands, digitization or even visibility. With this partnership we are building a bridge between the Seine corridor and the Rhine valley,” said Hervé Martel, vice president of HAROPA and executive director of HAROPA – Port of Le Havre.
Port Authority of Strasbourg inks cooperative services agreement with HAROPA
