Restructuring & insolvency lawyer — Ports, stevedoring & port operations sector

Mac Mahon Avocats is a Paris business law firm at 33 avenue Mac-Mahon, Paris 17. Its lawyers advise ports, stevedoring & port operations businesses on prevention of difficulties, out-of-court procedures, formal insolvency proceedings and distressed disposals under French law. This page sets out the applicable legal framework; it does not constitute legal advice.

Sector scope

Port operating companies and terminal concessionaires, stevedoring and cargo handling firms, towage, private pilotage and bunkering companies, marinas and marina management companies, port warehousing and logistics operators, ship repair and ship service providers.

Sector context

Port activities are usually carried on over public property under terminal agreements, concessions or temporary occupation permits granted by the port authority. Those titles carry investment and minimum traffic commitments, and their transfer requires the granting authority's consent. Operations are capital-intensive (cranes, gantries, paved yards, service craft) and sensitive to traffic volumes, international trade conditions and industrial action. Where difficulties arise, continuity of port services, safety of installations and the fate of the occupation title drive the restructuring strategy.

Key legal issues

Occupation titles over port public property: terminal agreements, concessions or temporary occupation permits, their precarious nature, traffic and investment commitments and transfer conditions under the Public Property Code.
Major seaport regime: allocation of roles between the port authority and private operators (Transport Code, Arts. L. 5312-1 et seq.) and its impact on continuity of operations.
Equipment and reversionary assets: classification of installations on public property determines what can actually be sold and what security can attach.
Equipment financing: leasing of gantry cranes and handling equipment, retention of title clauses and pledges over plant.
Dock labour: professional dockworkers and specific collective agreements, information and consultation duties, AGS involvement and the cost of reorganisations.
Cargo liabilities: bailment, warehousing, damage, liens and the handler's right of retention over goods.
Maritime security interests: ship mortgages, maritime liens and conservatory arrest of vessels (Brussels Convention of 10 May 1952) where the operator owns service craft.
Environment and safety: remediation and reinstatement obligations over yards, classified installations, and how those obligations are dealt with in the plan.

How a matter is handled

Diagnosis: review of available cash, due and payable liabilities, tax and social security instalments and existing security, in order to establish whether cessation of payments is characterised (Art. L. 631-1 Commercial Code).
Choice of procedure: arbitration between confidential out-of-court tools (ad hoc mandate, conciliation) and formal proceedings, in light of the sector's own timetable.
Negotiation: discussions with banks, strategic suppliers, the AGS wage guarantee scheme, the tax authorities and URSSAF, and where relevant before the CCSF.
Implementation: preparation of the filing, representation before the commercial courts, monitoring of the observation period, and preparation of the plan or of the sale.

French procedures at a glance

Procedure	Entry condition	Duration	Legal basis
Ad hoc mandate	No cessation of payments	Set by the court president, renewable	Art. L. 611-3 Commercial Code
Conciliation	Actual or foreseeable difficulties; cessation of payments for 45 days at most	4 months + 1 month	Arts. L. 611-4 to L. 611-16
Safeguard	Insurmountable difficulties, no cessation of payments	Observation period 6 months, extendable to 12	Art. L. 620-1 et seq.
Rehabilitation	Cessation of payments, recovery possible	Observation period up to 18 months	Art. L. 631-1 et seq.
Liquidation	Cessation of payments, recovery manifestly impossible	Variable; business continuation 3 months, renewable	Art. L. 640-1 et seq.

A declaration of cessation of payments must be filed within 45 days of that state arising, unless a conciliation request is filed within the same period (Art. L. 631-4 of the French Commercial Code).

Frequently asked questions

Can a terminal agreement be transferred under a sale plan?

The court may order the assignment of contracts necessary to preserve the business (Art. L. 642-7 Commercial Code). Occupation titles over public property nevertheless follow their own regime: their continuation or transfer requires a decision of the port authority, separate from the judgment approving the plan.

What happens to stored cargo if the handling company enters proceedings?

Goods belonging to third parties are not assets of the business. Their release depends on identification and on resolving any right of retention or lien asserted by the company for unpaid services.

Do concession investment commitments remain due during the observation period?

Contractual obligations owed to the port authority continue. Their performance is examined under the rules on continuation of ongoing contracts (Art. L. 622-13 Commercial Code) and is usually discussed with the granting authority from the outset.

Can a service vessel be arrested despite the proceedings?

The opening of insolvency proceedings stays individual enforcement action by pre-petition creditors. Post-petition creditors and proceedings brought abroad are governed by distinct rules, requiring a case-by-case analysis.

Contact

Phone: +33 1 45 03 20 20
Email: accueil@macmahon-avocats.fr
Address: 33 avenue Mac-Mahon, 75017 Paris, France