Seatrade Maritime: Haropa Port reveals positive 2025 figures despite economic uncertainties

Haropa Port has revealed major expansion plans along the Seine corridor linking Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris. Sustainability initiatives are high on the agenda as are intermodal projects to coordinate transport modes including barges, roads, trains, and inland hubs.  

The container throughput at terminals in Le Havre rose by 4% last year as France’s largest principal deepwater terminal continues to expand with two new berths and construction of a new river access channel. Lines providing regular services to east and west include CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, MSC and Zim.  

The port handled a record 3.2 million teu and 12.9 million tonnes of dry bulk, a 10% increase over the previous year. Liquid bulk was down marginally by less than 1% while cruise ship calls fell 7% to 205 calls. Investment rose by 30% to €190 million including almost €92 million on decarbonisation and ecological initiatives. The cruise terminals in Le Havre and Rouen are to be progressively electrified by 2027 and more than €100 million is to be spent on electrification at Port 2000 container terminals by 2030. 

Construction work for the river access of Port 2000 began in March. The new La Chatière channel will allow  direct inland access to container terminals in Le Havre. This is expected to boost inland waterway volumes by more than 50% while improving multimodality and the port’s decarbonisation drive.

Meanwhile, the port is implementing the country’s Zéro Artificialisation Nette (ZAN) policy which aims to halt the net consumption of natural and agricultural land by mid-century. The Haropa Port’s ZAN strategy includes rebuilding on port land with 60 hectares allocated for redevelopment in 2025, a further 70 hectares earmarked for projects, and other eco-friendly developments including the multi-level Green Dock project in Gennevilliers.