The countdown begins. In less than six months, the emblematic Parisian barges will be the stars of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Until then, some shipowners decide to green their fleet and turn to non-polluting engines. At the Haute-Seine shipyards, the largest river shipyard in Ile-de-France located in Villeneuve-le-Roi, several boats are converted to electric for the event.
In Villeneuve-le-Roi, the noise of metal is barely covered by that of the planes flying over the construction site. Between the boats in dry dock, workers in orange vests are busy on the barges which will participate in the great parade of the Olympic Games, whether in the parade or in the related fleet. These will be electric: for the event, several shipowners are banking on more eco-responsible boats.
“ Here we are in the engine room of the boat, so we will have two generators, one on port, the other on starboard, and two electric motors », explains Bruno Bon Gil, boilermaker. Construction helmet screwed on the head, he installs the supports which will accommodate the new engine on board the swallow, a 60 meter long cruise ship from the Bateaux-Mouches company. “ The engines will be put on at the last moment, when all the major boilerwork is done, in about two months maximum. »
Longer days, doubled number of orders…
In total, it took eight months of work to convert this boat to electric. This complex operation, called “retrofit”, costs on average two million euros. On the site, where everyone keeps the Olympic Games in mind, the hangars look like anthills. “ We strengthened the teams and extended the days to be able to do the work and deliver on time. », says Roberto Tavares, director of operations. “ For all employees, i.e. 45 people, we extended the weeks by around 10 hours. That’s 450 hours more per week, and today we welcome around 25 more temporary workers. »
With the event, the company saw its number of orders double. A breath of fresh air welcomed by Christian Drapier, head of studies and projects, who describes the Olympic Games as an “accelerator” for the greening of the river fleet. “ The tendency of shipowners is to try to be virtuous, so everyone decided to have their electric boat for the Olympic Games “, he specifies. The company even had to refuse four orders. “ We always told ourselves that we would limit ourselves to one or two big projects per year, and here we have three to do at the moment… We have some sleepless nights! », he says with a smile.
But the smell of diesel from diesel engines will still float above the Seine during the sporting event. According to Paris 2024, of the 116 boats present during the parade, only around thirty will have an electric or hybrid engine.
► Also read: Can the Olympics be green?