The Port of Caen (French: ''Port de Caen)'' is the

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

and

port authority In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority_for_a_special-purpose_district.html" ;"title="110. - 6910./ref> is a type of Nonprofit organization">nonprof ...

of the Norman city of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The port of Caen is composed of a series of basins on the

Canal de Caen à la Mer Canal de Caen à la Mer ( en, Canal from Caen to the sea, also called the "Caen Canal") is a short canal in the department (préfecture) of Calvados, France, connecting the Port of Caen, in the city of Caen, downstream to the town of Ouistreham a ...

, linking

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders th ...

, 15 km (9.3 m) downstream, on the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

Layout

The port of Caen was originally composed solely of the Bassin Saint-Pierre, in the centre of Caen. Increase in traffic explains the digging up and creation of four more; the Nouveau Bassin ( cruises), Bassin de Calix, Bassin de Hérouville (miscellaneous) and Bassin de Blainville (

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

s). A new canal, as well as a new concert venue (the Cargö), were built next to the junction between the Canal and the Bassin Saint-Pierre, creating a sharp contrast with the disused

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of citie ...

s. The Bassin Saint-Pierre is used as a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

and is kept afloat with a height adjustable dam on the

River Orne The Orne () is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It is long. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. Its main tributaries are the Odon and the Rouvre. The ...

. The Nouveau Bassin, directly east of Saint-Pierre, although it receives

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

in need of berthing or repairs, is not in regular use. The Viaduc de Calix, a large concrete

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

, passes over the Orne valley and the canal. It has been built high enough to permit the transit of large tonnage ships. The Bassin de Calix, directly below the viaduct, is the only basin in regular use. Several cranes are used to load and unload cargo, mostly wood, onto lorries or trains. Ships transporting cereals use Blainville

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locati ...

. Ships are stationed directly against the canal wall and load and unloaded by cranes and cereal silos.

Ouistreham

At the entrance of the canal is the Port of Caen's cross-channel

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

. The terminal building is situated in the western part of the terminal. Two sets of locks, beyond the seaport, keep the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

navigable towards Caen. The lock is composed to two lock basins and a lock keeper's tower. The entrance to the port is a dredged channel, 8 m deep, below the hydrographic zero and 90 m long. The access channel itself is two nautical miles (4 km) long, on a 184°5 axis, indicated by aligned luminous signalling. The channel, 150 m wide is bordered, to the west and the east by three

sea mark A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage that identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard, or administrative area to allow boats, ships, and seaplanes to navigate safely. T ...

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of y ...

s. The outer harbour is a 250 m in diameter avoidance zone, permitting

to turn around. Ouistreham possesses two ferry berths; Poste T1 and Poste T2. * Poste T1 was built in 1986, it is capable of berthing ships up to 145 m long and 24 m wide. The minimum water depth is 5 m 50 cm at

low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...

. * Poste T2 was built in 1992, it is capable of berthing ferries up to 165 m long and 26 m wide, on a dock wall 217 m long. Depth is kept at a minimum of 6 m above hydrographic zero. * The tugboat is stationed between posts T1 and T2 in a 38 m long secluded. The terminal itself is divided in two areas, T1 and T2, respectively 15 400 m² and 56 100 m² in area. The terminal's total area is 100 000 m².

Brittany Ferries

Up to three sailings of

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, a ...

depart

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders th ...

per day. It is the Port of Caen's

ferry

. In the summer season, the

MV Normandie MV ''Normandie'' is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Kværner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard in Finland and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 1992. SECA 2015 refit On the 1st January 2015, the EU (including the No ...

and

MV Mont St Michel MV ''Mont St Michel'' is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in the Netherlands and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 2002. ''Mont St Michel'' was to have been called ''Deauville'' or ...

operate the back-to-back, six-hour ferry crossing. Ferries depart both

and

Portsmouth International Port Also known as Portsmouth Port or Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port, Portsmouth International Port is a cruise, ferry and cargo terminal located in the city of Portsmouth on the south coast of England. History Portsmouth investigated three l ...

at 08:15 (and arrive at 14:30), 16:30 (and arrive at 21:15) and 22:00 (and arrive the next morning). This schedule begins in May and is carried through until October, when ferries start to go in for refits; hence they are deployed on different routes.

Pleasure boating

The traffic has decreased during the last twenty years. The port of Caen has however been used to accommodate several racing yachts such as the ''Kingfisher'' (2nd -

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France ...

2001, sailed by

Ellen MacArthur Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...

, and 1st

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, overseas France. The first compet ...

2002) and ''Gartmore'' (9th - Vendée Globe 2001). As well as racing ships, the port of Caen is the regular port-of-call for

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

s, the '' Belem'' and the HMY ''Britannia''.

Statistics

During July 2006 the Port of Caen transported 317 274 tons of cargo and 133 959 passengers (32 538 cars and 9 483 lorries). Between 2004 and 2006, the Port of Caen transported (in tons per year):

References

External links

*
Le Port de Caen
*
A la découverte du Port de Caen
{{Authority control Ports and harbours of the English Channel Ports and harbours of France Caen Transport in Normandy Buildings and structures in Caen Tourist attractions in Normandy