Naval and yachting

Pôle Mer Méditerranée is a key player in supporting the decarbonisation of maritime activities. Pôle Mer Méditerranée leads and co-pilots the national “Smartship” roadmap supported by the Maritime Industrial sector. It is also a contributor to the Greenship, Smart Yard, NextGen offshore industry roadmaps. It is significantly involved at the level of the maritime sector strategic committee, with the CORIMER R&D committee. The Naval and Yachting Strategic Action Area covers innovations linked to products and services throughout the life cycle of ships regardless of their type, size and use (maritime or river): engineering, design, construction, integration and testing, certification, operation, maintenance, refit and deconstruction.

The Naval and Yachting area includes the uses of defence, commercial, fishing, service and work navies (maritime works, scientific fleet, marine renewable energies, O&G, submarine cables) and the nautical industries, around 3 themes:

• Green Ship: decarbonisation and ecological ships (eco-design, energy efficiency, refit, reduction of emissions);
• Smart Ship: intelligent ships and autonomous systems (autonomous ships, remotely operated, augmented marine, digital twin;
• Smart Yard: through the use of novel materials and intelligent construction sites/factories.

More than 220 members are registered in the actions of this strategic action area. Pôle Mer Méditerranée draws on the strengths of the Sud and Occitanie Regions which historically have numerous skills linked to naval activities, embodied by a dynamic and internationally recognised fabric with:

• Shipowners, strongly represented with a majority having a headquarters in Marseille [CMA CGM, Bourbon, Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation, Marfret, etc.], the French Navy with the Toulon naval base, the first French military port in the Mediterranean;
• Shipbuilding and repair: military, commercial and cruise ships from the yachting sector are particularly represented, the territory offering large repair yards and now having exceptional equipment in Toulon, Marseille, Saint-Mandrier, La Ciotat [Naval Group, Chantier Naval de Marseille, Monaco Marine, IMS…]. These projects mobilise numerous skills from equipment manufacturers who are mainly innovative SMEs and mid-caps;
• The construction of pleasure boats, particularly with large catamarans: Outremer Yachting, Catana…);
• The academic ecosystem with a fabric adapted to the needs of industrial players, including all the major universities of the facade, research institutes such as Ifremer, CNRS, IRD … and specialised engineering schools (SEATECH, ISEN, Centrale Marseille, ENSM…).

Historically a pioneer, the territory of the Pôle Mer Méditerranée Cluster has become a nerve centre for marine and underwater robotics through its industrial, academic and research players. For example, the Sud Region created the Club Sud Drone which brings together air/land/sea robotics players across the entire value chain. Pôle Mer Méditerranée is heavily involved in this network, particularly through experimental actions with its members and partner competitiveness clusters.