New marina to be ready for Paris 2024 Olympic Games

The municipal authorities of Marseille have launched a new public consultation on a €25m (US$30m) project to build a new marina in Roucas-Blanc, one of the city’s districts located on the French Mediterranean coast.

Hervé Menchon, Deputy Mayor of Marseille, told local daily La Provence that the consultation was initiated to analyse the project’s impact on the city’s renowned Corniche boulevard, among others.

The project is to ensure a berthing capacity for 600 craft, compared with the 300 berths provided by the city’s existing marina.

With the next summer Olympic Games approaching, Marseille, which will host the event’s sailing competitions, could face difficulties with completing the project on schedule. Under the initial plan, land-based work on the marina was to begin this November, allowing it to be completed in the second half of 2023.

“The Roucas Blanc Marina must meet the International Olympic Committee standards for the organisation of Olympic sailing events. To this end, the existing nautical stadium will be redeveloped to host the Olympic events, as well as nautical activities for the benefit of the public and the athletes of the French sailing clubs,” Solideo, the state-owned company tasked with the construction sites for the Olympic Games, said in a statement.