The seaports of the seine axis facing contemporary maritime industry mutations

Abstract

Maritime industry is constantly evolving and striving for increased innovation. Past years have been exceptionally interesting. Major trends like globalization and containerization have and continue to reshape the industry. These changes can be illustrated by strategic alliances between ship-owners trying to reshuffle circulatory and port maps. Thus, in its constant quest for optimization, maritime transport requires continuous modification of infrastructure. Due to the increasingly competitive environment, major seaports also tend to draw up new strategies to become more attractive. It represents a system of spatial and temporal interactions and the territorial implications of supply chains and transportation are not negligible. In this respect, the paper proposes to analyze a singular location: the Seine Axis. The axis is concentrating on its territory. It is France’s leading port complex and the fourth largest in Europe. The area combines the maritime interface structured around the ports of the River Seine estuary with the metropolitan interface supplying the market of over 11 million inhabitants in the Ile-de-France region.