France’s top fishing port in value terms but training behind Boulogne in tonnage, Lorient’s fishing sector is being energetically promoted by the port and local authorities, as well as by the dozens of companies that rely on the fishing business for the livelihoods.
As well as the port’s fish processing and sales activities that are central to around 3000 jobs in the region, Lorient is re-emerging as a ship repair centre – and possibly also a shipbuilding centre if plans to make the most of the opportunities available come to fruitition.
‘We want to make Lorient the reference port for the whole of the Bay of Biscay,’ said the town’s mayor and president of Lorient Agglomération Norbert Métairie.
‘There are €20 million waiting to be invested here. We have to adapt the activities that are here in Lorient and build on what we have already been doing,’ he said. ‘Fishing does have a future here.’
The upbeat message was delivered alongside the recent NavExpo exhibition held in Lorient, showcasing maritime activities, shipbuilding and supply companies in the region, as he announced that there is space to expand.
‘It is important to be able to allocate land to companies that want to grow,’ he said, emphasising the importance of the growing shipbuilding and repair capacity that Lorient offers.
‘We are doing well already in Lorient and we want to continue to expand and modernise the port. There is huge potential there and politicians are being very supportive of our plans for Lorient,’ he said.
‘We have an environmental policy in our ship repair facilities here,’ said SEM Lorient-Keroman CEO Benoît Jaffrey.
The old slipway and turntable are long gone from the port’s repair area, replaced with a 650 tonne mobile hoist to lift boats out of the water, while the old turntable has been replaced by a sink area, collecting runoff contaminated waste water and pollutants from the yard that are then channelled to a holding tank and disposed of.
‘We have a policy to change mindsets,and to encourage staff to think environmentally, combined with a positive approach to safety issues,’ he said.
Patrice le Fel, president of inter-trade organisation IPL, commented that a range of services are available for ship repair and shipbuilding, in addition to the capacity to refit, lengthen or even shorten vessels as required, and the waste collection system at the yard has been a bonus as the environmental aspect has won significant markets, bringing customers to the port from around France as well as from other countries, which includes military vessels.
He commented that a real possibility for a 5000 tonne synchrolift is being appraised for Lorient, which would take it beyond the current 650 tonne capacity and extend this to vessels of around 120 metres. This would take Lorient’s ship repair capacity into a new league, he said.
‘There are plenty of challenges ahead for the next few years,’ he said.
According to fishing port president Maurice Beniosh, Lorient is a modern port and contining to modernise.
‘Having Piriou here in Concarneau is a big step. The Piriou yard in Concarneau is extremely busy and being able to transfer mush of its fishing vessel repair work to Lorient takes the pressure off their main yard, as well as bringing more activity to Lorient,’ he said.
