page_title: Saint-Nazaire
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Saint-Nazaire / Economy
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Das französische Transportschiff "Ville de Bordeaux" beim Airbus Familientag 2005 in Hamburg-Finkenwerder. English: French Transport ship for the Airbus A380, "Ville de Bordeaux" at Airbus familiy day 2005 in Hamburg, Germany. IMO Number: 9270842 MMSI Number: 228084000 Callsign: FZCE Length: 154 m Beam: 24 m
context_page_description: Saint-Nazaire is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
  The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière". Given its location, Saint-Nazaire has a long tradition of fishing and shipbuilding. The Chantiers de l'Atlantique, one of the largest shipyards in the world, has constructed notable superliners such as SS Normandie, SS France, RMS Queen Mary 2 and MS Symphony of the Seas, the largest passenger ship in the world as of 2018.
  Saint-Nazaire was a small village until the Industrial Revolution but became a large town in the second half of the 19th century, thanks to the construction of railways and the growth of the seaport. Saint-Nazaire progressively replaced Nantes as the main haven on the Loire estuary. The town was one of the most damaged in France during World War II.
  As a major submarine base for the Kriegsmarine, Saint-Nazaire was subject to a successful British raid in 1942 and it was heavily bombed by the Allies until 1945.
context_section_description: The economy of the city is founded on the activity of the port, including export of manufactured goods but also on the services, being given sizeable size of the city. Commercial fishing has almost completely disappeared in spite of the existence of a small fleet of fisheries and fishing vessels.
  Saint-Nazaire suffered heavily from the downsizing of shipbuilding activity in western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, after the completion of the national passenger liner, SS France. For a long time in the 1980s, Saint-Nazaire remained an economically depressed area with unemployment rates above 20%. Today, the local economy is more diversified and its situation is more in line with that of France as a whole. The major industries are:
  Shipyard – having previously concentrated on both naval and cargo ship construction, Chantiers de l'Atlantique has completed a successful reconversion to cruise ship building and is now one of the world leaders in this sector. Purchased by Aker Yards, the Cunard Line's new flagship, RMS Queen Mary 2, was built in Saint-Nazaire.
  Airbus – Saint-Nazaire is one of the European centers of Airbus, responsible for the fitting out of aircraft fuselage sections. Originally a factory built for SNCASO, it is located at Penhoët, immediate north of the sites of Chantiers de l'Atlantique. An additional facility was built in Gron in 1980. For the Airbus A380, the Airbus Roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ship Ville de Bordeaux brings fuselage sections from Hamburg, (Germany) for larger, assembled sections, some of which include the nose. The ship then unloads these sections plus wings from Filton, Bristol and Broughton in North Wales at Bordeaux. From there, the A380 parts are transported by barge to Langon, Gironde, and by oversize road convoys to the assembly hall in Toulouse. New wider roads, canal systems and barges were developed to deliver the A380 parts. After assembly, the aircraft are flown to Hamburg, XFW to be furnished and painted.
  Aeronautical engineering – Famat, a joint-venture company between Snecma and General Electric, has a factory in Saint-Nazaire. Employing approximately 450 people, Famat specializes in the manufacture of structural elements for turbojets.
  Mechanical engineering – SEMT Pielstick, a manufacturer of diesel engines intended for naval and railway applications and for electrical production. Now part of MAN B&W Diesel, the SEMT Pielstick factory employed in 2006 670 people in Saint-Nazaire.
  Port – the primary French port on the Atlantic coast. Now busier than its rival Nantes, it is managed by the Port Authority of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire. The port terminal handles high volumes of food products, and methane, and oil company Elf de Donges and many other industries.
caption: Airbus A380 transporter ship Ville de Bordeaux
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