Productive investments in the Jarry port facility at Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe will increase the Port of Guadeloupe's capacity so as to enable it to maintain its position in terms of traffic volumes. The remodelling should also strengthen port security in relation to the natural disasters to which the region is vulnerable.
Extension of Guadeloupe port to support economic development
- 25 January 2016
Le port "Nouvelle Génération" pour l'avenir du territoire.
Work will take place over two phases. In phase one, docks 12 and 13 of the existing terminal will be adapted for ships with a 3 000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) cargo capacity and the access channel and swinging circle will be dredged to accommodate ships of 6 500 TEU. Dredged material will be used to drain water from the new container platform.
Phase two consists of building a dock with a 350 metre mooring quay to cater for ships of 12 000 TEU and able to withstand major earthquakes. The basin may be banked up to create a 2 ha platform between the existing and new terminals.
The project will allow creation of new facilities and support transhipment traffic development. This should avoid making Guadeloupe dependent on transhipment of goods via other ports, which would increase delivery times and cost the local economy some EUR 50 million.
Construction and port-based jobs
The project should create some 550 jobs in construction and 500 linked to development of the port's activity. It will also foster competition in import and port handling services and expand the port in a way that takes account of overall Caribbean trade.
Expanding to meet demand
In 2013, 890 000 passengers, including 160 000 cruise passengers passed through the port, which handled 3.7 metric tonnes of freight, had turnover of EUR 36 million and received EUR 12.2 million of investment. The port is essential for jobs and growth in the region as it processes more than 95 % of Guadeloupe's economic exchanges and port and maritime activity account for 12 % of the region's jobs and 7 % of its GDP.
Expansion of the Panama Canal will increase the size of vessels able to pass through it from 5 000 to 12 500 TEU, placing the Caribbean at the crossroads of major shipping routes. The number of containers transhipped in the region is expected to increase from 4 million in 2008 to 10 million in 2020 and the search for economies of scale may lead shipping lines to increase the size of Caribbean ships. Increased port capacity is thus vital.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Port of Pointe-à-Pitre (GPMG)” is EUR 30 000 000, of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 20 700 000 from the Operational Programme “Guadeloupe et St Martin Etat” for the 2014 to 2020 programming period.