As international maritime regulations are about to take a new turn with the entry into force of strengthened carbon standards in 2028, Marfret reaffirms its commitment to French Guiana. Maintaining a direct line from Europe, without transshipment, remains more strategic than ever for the territory’s supply chain.
Forty-five years after launching its regular container shipping line between Europe, French Guiana, and Northern Brazil, Marfret reaffirms its commitment to the direct service of this territory. The company stays its course despite upcoming changes to environmental regulations. This is the message conveyed by Marfret’s management team, which traveled to French Guiana from April 9 to 17 to meet with local stakeholders: freight forwarders, importers, distributors, port authority representatives, and government officials. The objective: to discuss the challenges of maintaining a direct maritime service between Europe and French Guiana. A few days earlier, Xavier Rose, Marfret’s director in French Guiana, had invited his clients aboard the Douce France to discuss the constraints impacting international maritime transport.
The concerns of Guianese clients are real and legitimate. Changes in regulations, particularly regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, could reshuffle the current maritime service setup. “Today, clients are openly worried about the need to maintain reliable and uninterrupted supply chains,” notes Olivier Lecroq, Commercial Manager for the Antilles–Guyana lines, who returned from the mission alongside Véronique Passarelli, Operations Director.
The service operated by Marfret connects Europe weekly to French Guiana and Northern Brazil without transshipment, with a fixed 49-day rotation. The service calls at the ports of Vigo, London, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Phillipsburg, Port of Spain, Dégrad-des-Cannes, Vila do Conde, and Fortaleza, before returning to Europe.
For the past six months, due to multiple operational issues, French Guiana has been partially served via transshipment in Port of Spain. This model has proven unsatisfactory, generating delays, additional logistical costs, uncertainty about delivery times, and supply disruptions.
Despite modernization efforts at Caribbean ports, transshipment services would still be risky according to Marfret. “Feedering still carries the same risks,” stated Guillaume Vidil, Managing Director, during his Senate hearing on March 4 as part of the work on the high cost of living in the overseas territories. Maintaining a direct line remains essential, particularly to ensure the territory’s logistical continuity and support the Guiana Space Centre. On the Brazilian side, which is also served by this line, exporters of fresh produce also fear the impacts of transshipment, which pose major risks for time-sensitive goods.
Evolution of the carbon intensity indicator in 2028
Current regulatory conditions allow the maintenance of the direct service.
Officially in force since 2023, the scope of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), which has already undergone several revisions, will not be finalized by the IMO until 2028. Currently applied without distinction between ship types or geographic contexts, this indicator penalizes medium-sized vessels operating on long routes and calling at ports with restrictive technical conditions.
“Only Guyamax container ships of 2,200 TEU and 6.5 meters draft can call at Dégrad-des-Cannes,” Marfret reminds. This constraint prevents the use of larger vessels, which would reduce emissions per container transported. Therefore, operators cannot benefit from economies of scale to improve their carbon score.
Facing this deadlock, one solution could be to concentrate transport through the creation of regional hubs fed by feeder services. Although this strategy could optimize the CII locally, it may weaken the territories served by increasing handling costs, extending delivery times, and paradoxically causing a rise in overall emissions due to the multiplication of vessels on secondary routes and increased transshipments.
Discussions around the CII should incorporate corrective criteria: ship size, distance traveled, port constraints, and available freight volume. The challenge is to strike a balance between climate ambition and economic viability, without excluding niche routes serving the overseas territories.
Economically, French Guiana shows encouraging signs for 2025. After a 3% contraction in 2023 due to the slowdown of space activities and exports, salaried employment rose by 2% in 2024. The Territorial Authority of French Guiana has launched an ambitious €295 million investment plan, with major projects such as the doubling of the Larivot Bridge, the Larivot Biomass Power Plant, and the future Judicial Complex in Saint-Laurent du Maroni. In this context of recovery and demographic growth, maintaining stable logistics flows is a major priority. Marfret intends to remain a key player in this continuity by maintaining a direct line tailored to the territory’s specific needs.
Moreover, regional development prospects are expanding with the rise of the oil and gas sector in neighboring Suriname. This dynamic opens the way for strengthened intra-regional exchanges and increased regional sourcing potential, particularly for materials, consumer goods, and associated logistics services. Deeper economic integration in the North Amazonian Arc could thus help consolidate supply chains while diversifying trade flows.