EU Commission okays French state aid of €102M for Port of Saint-Malo

The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, French state aid worth around €102 million to modernize the Naye Ferry Terminal in the Port of Saint-Malo.

The measure aims to support the optimization of the management of areas for the transport of goods and passengers on the Naye terminal in order to respond to the growth of maritime trade in Europe.

The project consists of replacing obsolete infrastructure with infrastructure capable of accommodating new larger ferries and improving roads and access to the terminal.

The beneficiary is the Brittany region, which owns the Port of Saint-Malo. The aid will be in the form of a direct grant of around €102 million, with the total investment costs amounting to almost €118 million.

As explained, the commission found that the measure is necessary and appropriate to promote common transport and environmental objectives and that it has an “incentive effect” since in the absence of public support, the beneficiary would not carry out the investment.

Furthermore, the commission concluded that the aid is proportionate, as it is limited to the minimum necessary, and that it would have a limited impact on competition and trade between Member States.

The state support announcement comes only a few days after Saint-Malo, a hybrid ferry with the ‘world’s largest battery’ fitted to a ship embarked on sea trials. The new eco-friendly roll-on/roll-off passenger (RoPax) ship is currently on sea trials to test its LNG-electric drivetrain.

To be operated by French shipping company Brittany Ferries, the  194.7-meter-long newbuild is expected to arrive in the UK to serve the Portsmouth to St Malo route early next year, with the first sailing scheduled for February 12, 2025.