PRESENTATION
Hercules Port is a natural bay at the foot of the ancestral rock of the princes of Monaco. It is one of the few, if not the only deep-water port of the French Riviera.
It was used as a trading port by the Greeks and Romans but had the disadvantage of being poorly sheltered from the easterly winds. This prompted the erection of two piers in the early twentieth century which went some way to providing better protection, nut not completely as the means used then for deep water were not fully effective (30-40 meters).
Under the impetus of HRH Prince Rainier III, studies were undertaken in the 1970s to better protect the stretch of water by placing, before the two existing piers, a new sea wall and a lee breakwater intended to provide the port with full protection from the swells of the eastern sector.
These studies were to lead to the construction of a colossal structure 352 metres in length and weighing 160,000 tonnes at the foot of the Rock of Gibraltar. The unique design of this avant-garde work is to be semi-floating. The volume of seawater “trapped” between the underside of the structure and the mobilized seabed behaves like a wall baptizes and patented under the name of “fixed water wall”. It is this wall of water that provides the atteation of agitation on either side of the mooring. The floating nature of this structure, anchored on the Rock side by a ball joint and moored on the sea side by eight lines of moorings (5 on the wide side and 3 on the shore side) has made it possible to preserve the marine fauna and flora).
It was towed to the principality in August 2002 and moored at the foot of the rock. It was completed by a lee breakwater 145 metres in length in order to build a marina in front of Quai Louis II, itself created in 2005 andcompleted in 2011, intended to host the Yacht Club in the summer of 2014.
The new sea wall also makes it possible to welcome major cruise ships (up to 300 metres in length).
Inside the original port, HRH Prince Albert II, who continued the work started by his father, wished to see the stretch of water undergo comprehensive redevelopment to make Hercule Port the most mdern and most practical marina in the western Mediterranean, and on the wider scale to position Monaco as a Capital of Yachting.
This redevelopment enables large and luxurious pleasure craft to enter the Port in response to the deelopment of ocean cruising.
Hercule Port in detail
Operation
- Société d’Exploitation des Ports de Monaco
- General Director: Olivier LAVAGNA
- Financial Manager: Olivier IMPERTI
- Operations Manager: Virginie FABRON
- Port Authority: +377 97 77 30 00
- Port Masters: Guillaume FABRE – Robert GUYOT – Julien TETART
- VHF Canal 12 monitored around the clock
- Reception in season from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.
- Port watchman 24/7
- Maximum speed : 3 knots
- Position GPS: 43°44’,1N – 007°25’,8E
Facilities
- 760 berths
- Depth: Outer pier 30 meters, Outer port 40 meters, Pool from 2.50 to 55 meters
- Reception: +377 97 77 30 00 or VHF channel 12
- Mooring: rear berthed and mooring line at the front.
Services
Fresh water, electricity on the quayside and on the pontoons (220V / 380V), WIFI available at additional cost (subscriptions available by connecting at “MonacoWifi”; free access at the fiber via a QR Code allowing you to be edirected to the purchase portal obtained on the electrical terminals), grey waters collectors on some quays, 12 showers, 20 WC. TV on the quayside, self-service laundrette in the city, containers for used oil and batteries, refuse collection. Fuel on the landing stage (BP station).
Two private careening areas and two shipyards are located at Hercule Port and managed by Monaco Marine ad Monaco Boat Service. These companies have respectively a fixed crane of 6 tons and two cranes of 5 and 15 tons.
IMPORTANT: CAPACITY TO EMPTY GREY AND BLACK WATER CONNECTION TO A COLLECTION NETWORK CONNECTED TO THE PUBLIC NETWORK OR BY REQUESTING AUTHORISATION FOR THE INTERVENTION OF SPECIALISED COMPANIES.
