Saint-Nazaire (France)

Saint-Nazaire is port city in Loire-Atlantique (Brittany, western France). Port St-Nazaire has a large harbour waterway, located on Loire River estuary's right bank and close to the Atlantic Ocean. The city covers a total area of approx 47 km2 (18 ml2). and has population around 70,000.

St Nazaire port's close proximity to Nantes and its deep-water harbor makes it a preferable and often visited cruise port of call in France. The town is located to the south of France's 2nd-largest swamp ("la Briere"). Given its location, St Nazaire has long traditions of commercial fishing and shipbuilding. Chantiers de l'Atlantique (fka STX France) is one of world's largest shipyards. Here, among many other cruise vessels, were constructed the iconic liners RMS Queen Mary 2 (operator Cunard, owner Carnival Corporation) and Harmony of the Seas (operator Royal Caribbean) - currently world's 2nd largest passenger ship ever built.

The small village developed quickly into a large town in 19th century's 2nd half. The growth was due to the seaport's development and construction of connecting railways. St Nazaire increasingly replaced Nantes. Being an important naval base for the Nazis, during WW2 (1939-1945) the town was heavily bombed by the British in 1942. Until 1945, it was also heavily bombed by the Allies as one of Europe's last territories liberated from Nazi Germany (on May 11, 1945).

Port's largest liner so far is Marella Cruises ship Marella Discovery (docked here in May 2018).

• The port is managed by Nantes Saint-Nazaire Port Authority.
• In 2017, the port received 12 ship calls and around 9,000 passengers.
• In 2018, the cruise port handled a total of 8 ship calls and around 5,500 passengers.

Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard St Nazaire (STX France)

St nazaire's Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard is currently part of the shipbuilding corporation STX France. Most of this business (66,6%) is owned by STX Europe (former Aker Yards). The balance 33,34% stake is state-owned (by France). Being one of world's largest shipbuilding yards, Chantiers de l'Atlantique constructs a wide range of marine vessels - passenger, commercial and naval.

The shipyard was acquired by Aker Aker Group in 2006. The South Korean "STX Corporation" acquired Aker Yards in 2008 and Chantiers de l'Atlantique became part of STX Europe. The company STX Europe is headquartered in Oslo Norway and operates over a dozen large shipyards located in South America (Brazil), Asia (Vietnam) and Europe (STX France, Norway, Romania).

Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard is prefered for large cruise shipbuilding projects mainly due to its know-how, but also for its convenient location at Loire River's mouth and Atlantic's deep waters.

In the mid 20th century, Chantiers de l'Atlantique started building French Transatlantic ocean liners. Its first vessel was the famous SS France (launched 1961) - then world's largest passenger ship. Yard's expansion included building a large drydock facility (Basin C), which was purposefully constructed for large vessels.

The first cruise liners were ordered by Holland America - ms Noordam (launched 1983, link to the 2006 ship) and ms Nieuw Amsterdam (launched 1984, link to the 2010 ship). The yard's first RCI ship was Sovereign of the Seas (launched 1987) - then the world's largest passenger ship.

In July 2017 started a project that expanded the pre-assembly area by 17,000 m2 (183,000 ft2), or around 30%. The EUR 30 million project was completed in late-November 2018. Following the expansion, now the shipyard can move simultaneously 22 mega-blocks (16 previously). The project also included lengthening of the rail track (by 135 m / 443 ft) of the 1400-ton gantry crane. This allows 6 more cruise ship blocks to be assembled at the same time.

On February 2, 2018, Fincantieri signed with STX France a share purchase agreement for 50% of the shipyard's stock capital (valued EUR 59,7 million) previously owned by France (via the Government agency APE). Following this deal, STX France's stockholding structure is Fincantieri (50% plus 1% borrowed from APE), France (34,34% via APE, of which 1% lent to Fincantieri) and Naval Group (10%), employees: (2,40%) and French companies (3,26%).

In 2019, in the shipyard was inaugurated a training facility (named L’Ecole / The School) that offers courses in metal works, welding, pipefitting, carpentering. The new 450 m2 sized school was designed to provide training and skills to both current and new employees. Around 80% of the training is practical, with classes led by shipyard's professional workers.

Saint-Nazaire cruise terminal