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A consortium led by Meridiam and CDC has signed a 50-year concession contract for the "Calais Port 2015" project.

The parties involved in the project are the Côte d'Opale Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Port of Dunkirk, investors CDC Infrastructure and Meridiam, and the Design & Build joint venture formed by Bouygues, Spie Batignolles and Jan de Nul.

The concession transforms the sites of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais into a single port and will enable the completion of the "Calais Port 2015" project. The project involves:

• the creation of a new seawall about 3 kilometers long and a dock with a surface area of 90 hectares, which will be essential to any development of the port of Calais;
• the creation of 44 hectares of a new quay using material dredged from the dock;
• the construction of berths for the latest-generation mega-ferries;
• the developments required for road and rail connections;
• a rail - road - sea terminal.

The total project investment is estimated at €650 million (US$740.8 million). The financiers are Allianz G and third-party investors by underwriting a bond issue of €525 million, in addition to the contribution by equity investors of more than €117 million. The project is also supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The aim is to balance the development of the two ports by promoting their complementary business activities and the complementarity in general between the ports on the Côte d'Opale seaboard and the Channel Tunnel.

During this month we have reported about other port PPP projects globally:

• Ibom Deep Seaport (Nigeria)
• Vizhinjam port container terminal (India)
• Oil Terminal Jetty at Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam Port (Tanzania)