Philippe Bonnave, CEO of Bouygues Construction, offers Mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, a model of one of the 18 caissons that will be prefabricated at Fos-sur-Mer. Photo: Charly Gallo/ Communications Department
Work will start later this year on the huge concrete pontoons that will form the basic structure of Monaco’s Portier extension into the sea.
The prefabrication of the 18 Jarlan pontoons will take place in Fos-sur-Mer, close to Marseille. The work will last two years and will start this September, journalists heard at a press conference in Marseille on April 6. The project will generate 700 direct and indirect jobs, and ultimately, more than 1.5 million tonnes of materials and building components will be loaded and transported to Monaco.
The prefabrication of the pontoons, a first in France, will be carried out using of a floating structure (caissonier) 56 metres long, 50 metres wide and 27 metres high. Bouygues TP, the principal contractor, calls the sea extension project an “emblematic operation”.
The meeting took place in Marseille City Hall in the presence of Jean-Claude Gaudin, Mayor of Marseille and President of the Metropole Aix-Marseille-Provence and Vice-President of the French Senate, Philippe Bonnave, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues Construction and Christine Cabau-Woehrel, General Manager of the Grand Maritime Port of Marseille.
Silversea’s new flagship Silver Muse is “set to offer the highest expression of excellence in elegance and comfort at sea,” according to CEO Roberto Martinoli. It’s no wonder then Silver Muse has chosen to dock a short shuttle drive away from the Grimaldi Forum, the venue for luxury lifestyle show Top Marques Monaco, before she starts her voyage to the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
Silversea, a family-run company based in Monaco that dominates the ultra-exclusive cruise market, picked up its ninth boutique vessel on April 3, from the Italian shipyard Fincantieri.
On April 6, Silversea chairman Manfredi Lefebvre and Mr Martinoli were among the VIPs on Silver Muse’s maiden call at Tarragona, Spain, which happened to coincide with the grand opening of Ferrari Land, the newest park in PortAventura World, which is expected to draw 500,000 visitors a year.
Also on board were members of the Ferrari family and Carlo Bonomi, managing partner of private equity giant Investindustrial, the lead investor in PortAventura World. Investindustrial also owns close to 40 per cent of Aston Martin.
Guests of Silver Muse were able to try out Ferrari Land’s 112-metre high Red Force, now Europe’s tallest and – with an acceleration from zero to 180 km/h in five seconds and a force of 1.3 G – fastest rollercoaster “where thrill seekers rocket along” as if driving a Ferrari.
Top Marques Monaco Sponsorship Director, Steven Saltzman, sat next to Mr Bonomi for the opening ride of Red Force on Thursday. “It’s unthinkable in its effect.” Mr Saltzman told Monaco Life. “It makes no sense when you’re riding it, as you go ‘over’ there is no visible means of support, and you seem to hang on to air for what seems eternity.”
As Mr Saltzman put it, “The Formula One driver who was present says Red Force eclipses even F1 sensations of gravity and speed.”
While the official christening of Silver Muse will take place on April 19 in the Principality, visitors to Top Marques Monaco from April 20 to 23 will have a chance to virtually experience the luxury liner.
The ship boasts the most sumptuous staterooms ever seen before on a cruse liner, at 1,572 square feet, some 200 square feet bigger than the average French apartment. Silver Muse will have eight restaurants on board.
A full-scale test of reversed traffic flow in the Albert II Tunnel will take place on Tuesday, April 11. The test – the first to be held since the tunnel opened – will start at 10 am.
Vehicles coming from Fontvieille will be able to use the tunnel to access the Moyenne Corniche, using the Marquet link and then the tunnel.
The tunnel was opened in July 2016, and has considerably reduced congestion for drivers coming from the Jardin Exotique into Fontvielle. The Government has said that congestion has been reduced by about 60 percent during the morning rush hour.
The test on Tuesday is intended to iron out any unforeseen problems when traffic flow needs to be reversed. Traffic flow management of this type is integral to the concept of the tunnel.
The Environment Directorate just announced the recent birth of six crested cormorants on the Rocher. These rare birds – emblematic of the Mediterranean – nested successfully in the Principality in 2015, although the number of offspring in that year remains unknown.
The nesting of the species in this sector of the Mediterranean littoral is a first, and there have been a total of eight births on the cliffs this year.
The only known colony of Phalacrocorax aristoletis desmarestii in continental France is in the Bouches-du-Rhône and a nesting couple has been recorded in the Var only since 2006.
Also noted on the Rock, so far this year a pair of peregrine falcons, a grey heron and a kestrel.
