Dégrad des Cannes () is the main

seaport 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 Hamburg, Manc ...

for the French

Overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, situated in the northern edge of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and opening into the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The seaport is located on the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the Mahury River. Nearly all of French Guiana's

imports An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

and

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

pass through this

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 Hamburg, Manch ...

. Built in 1974, it replaced the old harbour of

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

which was congested and couldn't cope with modern traffic.

Naval base

It also serves as the main base for the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in the Caribbean Sea and one of five French naval bases not located within Metropolitan France (excluding foreign bases). The naval base is located to the east of the main commercial port along Route des Plages. A small pier for naval vessels to dock connects to the main

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

. The base has a small

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

. The naval base is home to 160 personnel, some from the French Navy and the rest from the

Maritime Gendarmerie The Maritime Gendarmerie () is a component of the French National Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of the French Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and high-speed motorboats distri ...

and headed by a Commandant. Currently there are two s, ''La Confiance'' and ''La Résolue'', stationed at the base. Both naval patrol vessels entered service in 2017. The vessels are used mainly for sovereignty patrols, assisting the Maritime Gendarmerie in fisheries patrol vessels and protecting the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

further west along the coast. The Maritime Gendarmerie operates the patrol boats ''Charente'' and ''Organabo'' in the territory, ''Charente'' having been deployed to the territory in 2022 to replace the previous boat ''Mahury'' which was no longer deemed serviceable. One ''Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards'' (EDA-S) landing craft is to be delivered to naval forces based in Guiana by 2025. The landing craft is to better support coastal and riverine operations in the territory.

Base Commandant

* Alban Mathieu 2014–? * Serge Permal-Toulcanon ?–2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Degrad Des Cannes Ports and harbours in South America Water transport in French Guiana Installations of the French Navy Remire-Montjoly