La Ciotat Shipyards

La Ciotat Shipyards operates the La Ciotat naval site, at 46 quai François Mitterrand. Created in the wake of the 1994 agreements under the name SEMIDEP-Ciotat and renamed in 2018, it is a local public company held by the Bouches-du-Rhône Department, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the Région Sud and the City of La Ciotat, a model combining public ownership with the agility of a private structure. Formerly geared towards building large industrial vessels, the site has repositioned itself on the repair, maintenance and refit of large yachts, at the heart of the yachting golden triangle.

The site offers a full range of haul-out facilities. The Yachts Platform takes sailing and motor vessels from 20 to 45 metres and up to 300 tonnes on a travel lift, the Superyachts Platform units from 50 to 80 metres and up to 2,000 tonnes via a ship lift. Inaugurated in 2022, the Atlas Megayachts Platform offers seven dry berths for yachts from 80 to 115 metres and a 4,300-tonne lift. The Grande Forme, the former LNG carrier dry dock renovated in 2016, accommodates very large yachts with no size limit, and the Grand Portique gantry, built in 1969 and now the symbol of the town, lifts up to 600 tonnes, handling unusual shapes, multihulls and large sailing yachts without prior unstepping of the mast.

For afloat works, the site offers 1,500 linear metres of industrial quays with no length or beam limit, a draught of up to 9 metres, high-voltage connections and fibre optics; non-technical calls are accommodated there in summer. It also includes the Port-Vieux Marina and its 900 berths, and the Yachting Village, 8,000 square metres of industrial workshops.

Reception services cover electrical connections up to 1,250 amps per pedestal, drinking water, seawater, waste water and very high speed internet, both afloat and ashore. Process water and rainwater are treated through separators before discharge at sea, under State supervision, and access to the site is badge-controlled around the clock.

The site hosts several leading contractors, among them MB92 La Ciotat, Monaco Marine and Nautech, specialised subcontractors and the company iXblue, which builds highly technical vessels and marine drones there, La Ciotat Shipyards guaranteeing them non-discriminatory access to the facilities. Around one hundred million euros, mostly private, have been invested in the site's reindustrialisation, which continues its development programme and sustainability commitments.