Official inauguration of the new Port of Calais

After six years of construction, the new Port of Calais was officially inaugurated on September 9, 2021.

Considered as one of the largest European port infrastructure projects of the decade, the new port was inaugurated in the presence of Louis Le Franc, prefect of Pas-de-Calais; Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region; Natacha Bouchart, Mayor of Calais, President of Grand Calais Terres & Mers; and Jean-Marc Puissesseau, President of the Societe d’Exploitation des Ports du Detroit.

According to the port officials, the extension and modernization of the Port of Calais represents an investment of €863 million through an innovative financial financial package combining public and private funding from the Hauts-de-France Region, Europe, the Hauts-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Caisse des Depots and Meridiam.

Located in the heart of one of the busiest and most active maritime straits in the world, in terms of passenger and goods transport, the new Port of Calais was designed in 2002 on the initiative of Calais’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The main goal of the project was to anticipate and meet the growing demand of the cross-Channel traffic, including the new-generation of ships and the logistics and industrial needs of tomorrow.

The design-build contract for the new Port of Calais – the first maritime project under the European Union priority infrastructure plan – was awarded in March 2016 to a consortium formed around Bouygues Travaux Publics (the lead company), Colas Nord-Picardie, Spie Batignolles and Jan De Nul.

Actual work on the Calais Port 2015 scheme began in September 2016 with the stone laying ceremony that was held in the presence of the French President, François Hollande.

Overall this capital development project included construction of a new 3 kilometer seawall; development of a basin covering 170 hectares; the construction of three new ferry berths and a roll-on/roll-off berth inside the harbor basin; new quayage which will provide the space required for the efficient integration of intermodal rail-road-sea infrastructure (Rail and Sea Motorways); 4 million cubic meters of dredging works; and development of new cross-Channel traffic reception capacities including parking facilities, roads as well as roughly twenty operational and reception buildings.

In the words of Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne, thanks to the Calais Port 2015 project, the new port now has a robust infrastructure to face the 21st century with ease and thus take on new challenges in a rapidly changing world.

“Calais Port 2015 opens up new prospects for the Calais area and Hauts-de-France region, now equipped with an exceptional port facility. The new dimension of the port also means it can embark on the path to diversification with new maritime links associated with new rail connections. The Port of Boulogne Calais is much more than just a port, and we’re only at the beginning of a great story…”

Delivered on May 5th and officially inaugurated on September 9th, the new Port of Calais is scheduled to be commissioned this October.