Port Réunion, long overlooked in the Indian Ocean, is pitching itself as a risk-free gateway.

To date, Réunion has been limited by cost, as it is located in a euro-economy French overseas department, and therefore considered expensive by some in the industry. The new pitch, a Transport Events webinar heard in December, is on its quality and the safety it offers, as well as its location, which makes it convenient for Mauritius, Madagascar and the ports of East Africa.

“Our vision is a risk-free area located at the gates of Africa,” Henri Dupuis, chief operations officer, Port Réunion, told the webinar.

Dupuis underlined two strengths of Réunion. One is the marine connectivity it offers as the three main container lines operate through the port seven times a week. “It could be a risk mitigation tool to reduce the risk for supply chains in the Indian Ocean,” he pointed out.

This offers an impressive roster of destinations to keep in mind, as Réunion serves both transhipment ports such as Durban, Port Elizabeth and Mauritius, and gateways connected to freight corridors. Some 160 million people are within its easy reach.

Balancing this must be an awareness Réunion isn’t cheap but it is quality – something important for some types of cargo and crews. What is surprising is the candour there was about the cost.

“We’ll never be cost item effective in Réunion Island. That’s not what we sell here. But we are project-effective in terms of costs,” Arnault de la Perriere, chief executive officer of the Réunion-based La Perriere Group, told the webinar.

The group, with interests in stevedoring, shipping agency and terminal storage, is very much part of the ecosystem in the port and beyond, and has been for 140 years.

Another benefit of French oversight and management were identified by Emmanuelle Hoareau, GM for CMA CGM in Réunion. “We can say this is a safe port in several ways,” she told the webinar.

Being French and therefore strictly regulated meant it was easier to comply with many of the legal requirements affecting dangerous cargo as well as counterfeit and contraband issues.

“We have no record [at this port of] of any robbery on containers in our traffic,” Houreau said.

More important, though, is Réunion’s adaptability and reliability, which make it much more than an Indian Ocean port in a storm – a significant asset in its own right – but also a useful possible solution to the problems such as strikes, flooding, congestion and winds which affect other ports in the region.

“Réunion can be the fallback option for all lines coming in the area,” said Hoareau.

All this is being acknowledged by the industry at the moment with Reunion getting a lot of calls about new business. “Réunion has been seen as an enabler this 2020 year,” de la Perriere told the webinar.

More pertinent for the Covid-ridden world is the measures Réunion has put in place to deal specifically with the pandemic. Early on, the port moved to a single window software throughout the port community – part of a paperless strategy. It has also implemented and streamlined its crew change system which minimizes contacts (and risks) while maintaining social distancing. It also cooperates hard with regional trade body the Ports Association of the Indian Ocean Island, added Dupuis.

In the future, Réunion could be offering more as it has well-thought-out plans to develop not just as a port but as an Indian Ocean hub.

Short-term, it will boost its container facilities by increasing reefer plugs to 500 from the current 360. There will be two new STSs able to reach across 20 rows and an additional mobile harbour crane able to reach across 14 rows.

Following this, in the medium term, the move towards Réunion as a logistics hub starts to kick in. Key is the New Support Service Area, some 85 hectares of land set aside for logistics and industry, especially international logistics, said Dupuis. Of this, the lions share – some 45 hectares – is for port activities.

Long-term, the plan is to consolidate Réunion as a hub with an extension of the container terminal by land reclamation, added Dupuis.

By Michael Mackey

Southeast Asia Correspondent | Bangkok