At the invitation of the Port of Marseille Fos and the City of Marseille, the AIVP Board of Directors met in Marseille on May 6 and 7, 2025. On this occasion, participants were able to discuss the “Competitive and Sustainable Port City” strategy adopted in December 2024 by the City of Marseille and visit the Eastern Basins of the port. Located in the immediate vicinity of the city, these basins host a wide variety of activities: ferry traffic, cruises, containers, bulk cargo, ship repair, large yacht building, and data centers directly connected to transoceanic cables. As such, the Eastern Basins are privileged witnesses to the evolution of port functions and the challenges associated with managing the city-port interface. The members of the Board of Directors also visited the Port Center of Marseille, which opened its doors in 2024 and aims to gradually expand its offering. Finally, the AIVP administrators were welcomed at the CMA CGM headquarters to discuss the challenges of decarbonizing maritime transport.
On the statutory side, the Board of Directors meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm AIVP’s determination to hold its annual world conference in New York from November 18 to 21, 2025, regardless of the uncertainties linked to the current geopolitical context. With this decision, the directors call on all members to mobilize to reaffirm in New York the essential raison d’être of the AIVP: to bring together the world’s port cities through the sharing of experience, the exchange of best practices, dialogue and the strengthening of cooperation.
The members of the Board of Directors were also invited to vote on the port city that will host the AIVP World Conference in 2026. The choice fell on Dunkirk, a city immortalized in the eponymous film by Christopher Nolan, a pioneering territory where the city and port are innovating together to make the energy transition and decarbonization of the maritime and port economy a tangible reality and a lever for territorial transformation. Participants will undoubtedly find a source of inspiration for their own projects there.
