Following preparatory work to provide access roads to the site, construction proper started in September 2007 under a two-year infrastructure contract awarded by the PMA to main contractor GTM Genie Civil et Services. This involves dredging, the construction of 1,000m of new quay, 8km of rail links, 3km of roads and the provision of water and electricity connections.

The dredging is scheduled in three stages. Last autumn’s initial six week phase was carried out by Dredging International of Belgium and its French affiliate SDI and involved general deepening of the dock basin. The work was handled by Pearl River, one of the world’s largest suction dredgers, which is 170m long and has a hopper load capacity of 24,000 m/cu.

Further dredging of the basin will take place between this spring and in early 2009 to accommodate manoeuvres by ships up to 400m long. The third phase starts this autumn and will last until spring 2009. It will take the water depth alongside the existing 1970 built terminal from 12 to 14.5m, with provision to go to 16m.

In total some 6.5m m3 of material is being extracted. After extensive studies establishing that the extract presents no particular pollution problems, most of the material is being discharged at sea. The current friendly dispersal zone is 15km from the terminal, toward the edge of the Fos gulf, and offers depths of 50m to 70m. Monitoring devices to measure solids suspension levels have been placed in key gulf locations.

Within the quay construction timetable, piling work will be followed by erection of the platform structure over 12 months from the third quarter of this year. Work on the road/rail access links and utilities will be carried out next year for completion by the third quarter.

The private operating partners will take over responsibility for completing the project from May 2009, when the quays are due to be available for the delivery of ship to shore cranes. Apart from equipping the terminals, their part in the development also includes surfacing the landside area and the construction of yard buildings before Fos 2XL comes on stream in early 2010.

The publicly funded infrastructure element of the project amounts to an investment of €206.4m, with 70% (€151m) coming from the PMA and the balance shared between central

and regional government. Total Investment by the private operators is estimated at €200m to €250m.

Including part of the existing quay at Fos, the two new terminals will comprise 1,400m of quay. The Port Synergy terminal will include 600m of quay and 50 hectares of yard space, with annual capacity of 600,00 TEU. The MSC terminal will be able to handle 800,000 TEU per year with a quay of 800m and a 52 hectare yard.

The quay construction involves a total of 380 steel piles, each 27m long and weighing 26 tons. The quay will incorporate a reinforced concrete beam 1,200m long, 4.6m wide and 2.3m high, to support gantry cranes weighing 1,600 tons and capable of reaching across 22 containers.

The PMA’s plans to develop container capacity do not end with Fos 2XL. Last December the port authority launched a call for tenders to develop two further terminals, Fos 3XL and Fos 4XL, on a similar public-private partnership basis.

Due to open in 2014, these additional terminals will again double the port’s annual container capacity to 4m TEU.

The tender call was aimed at the world’s top 15 boxship and container terminal operators. A decision on the preferred operator is due to be taken this year, with negotiations on the operating terms set to follow in 2009.