La Ciotat, a pretty little seaside town between Toulon and Marseille, beats Saint-Tropez even fifty years ago, before people followed Brigitte Bardot to that perennial hotspot. It has better sandy beaches and three fine yacht harbours. And it’s here the game of pétanque was invented as was Auguste and Louis Lumière’s the Cinematograph - a device which functioned as camera, projector and printer all in one. The Lumière brothers made the world's first cine-film: workers leaving their factory, followed by the famous "L'arrivée du train en gare de la Ciotat" (1895). Indeed, the town's 26th annual (French) Film Festival runs May 30 to June 4 just after Cannes.

But why mention a town outside the Riviera? La Ciotat has been important in shipbuilding since the 16th Century, particularly in its golden age from 1940 to 1987. The biggest ship was a super-tanker of 240,000 tonnes and main speciality was sophisticated gas-carriers for the Algeria-France trade. But globalisation spread to this fishing village where once 6000 shipyard workers were employed. Korea and other third world countries took the lead, and France (pushed by the EEC) reduced government subsidies which had kept shipbuilding afloat. Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast was chosen as the only subsidised site; that is where British cruise liners like the Queen Mary II  are built. 
Yet a generation on, a new future arises for La Ciotat. The saviour is largely Monaco Marine which has invested €45 million in a totally new facility, not to build vessels but to repair and maintain them. This new shipyard will be a huge asset to the Riviera's megayacht industry. The clients are the ever-expanding fleet of huge yachts, which have generally had to go outside France for refitting. A timely move by the astute Michel Ducros of the kitchen spice family, who already runs shipyards in Beaulieu, St-Laurent-du-Var and Port Fréjus among other yachting activities.

This new Monaco Marine megayacht repair yard, the largest in the Mediterranean, is based round a 2000 ton yacht lift and a special rail transfer system allowing up to fourteen super-yachts to be parked ashore on the hard. An 80-metre yacht can be lifted ashore in three hours with all hook-ups (electricity, air, water, drains etc) connected. A special feature is the new 90-metre paint shed to shelter vessels from the weather, notably the dreaded Mistral wind, during painting operations. The first megayacht was lifted on April 30, and bookings look promising.   Monaco Marine deserves every success with this amazing venture.  M.H.


From Riviera Reporter Issue 121, June/July 2007

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