Every day, the extent of the disaster appears greater. The passage of Cyclone Chido, which hit Mayotte head-on on December 14, resulted in a major disaster such as no French territory has experienced in modern history. The small island in the Indian Ocean, on which more than 320,000 people live, was completely devastated. A large part of the habitat has been destroyed or is seriously damaged, the shanty towns in which Comorian migrants were crowded have been razed, infrastructure, roads, water and electricity networks have been hit hard. Even buildings considered to be the strongest suffered, such as the hospital and the new emergency center. And of course, beyond the material damage, there are the victims. The toll, still impossible to establish, will probably number in the thousands of deaths. As for the survivors, they lack everything, while Mayotte is isolated, because it is located more than 1,400 km from Reunion, or around 4 hours of flight for military planes and three to four days of navigation for boats. Which constitutes, in the current situation, a real logistical headache.
Faced with this unprecedented situation, the State and local authorities are mobilizing all available means and organizing the delivery of aid from mainland France and the island of Reunion. Hundreds of soldiers and rescue workers were dispatched to the site to assist the population, clear the roads, shelter those who no longer have a roof over their heads, but also distribute drinking water and food, which constitute one of the first needs. Teams from EDF and other companies are also on site to restore water supply, electricity and the telephone network. And at the same time we must maintain order in this context of extreme crisis.
Initially, aid mainly arrived by air, the Mayotte airport, although damaged (its control tower was destroyed) and unable to receive civilian flights, was still accessible to military planes. They began an airlift with Reunion Island on Sunday, transporting emergency personnel and freight, while carrying out medical evacuations to relieve the Mamoudzou hospital center, some of whose services remain inoperative (only nearly half of the activity resumed there on Wednesday December 18). But the needs are such that these air connections are not enough. Aid must be massive and, for this, the only solution is maritime.
Commercial port infrastructure spared
Fortunately, although the port facilities of Mamoudzou and Dzaoudzi were devastated, those of the commercial port of Mayotte, located in Longoni, in the north of the island, suffered little damage and are operational. They are the ones that usually accommodate the large commercial ships responsible for supplying the island, with the capacity to accommodate boats up to 300 meters long and a draft of 14 meters. They will therefore be crucial for the rest of the operations. From Monday, divers from the French Navy surveyed the port to ensure that there were no obstructions to navigation at the bottom of the water. The channel leading to the terminal through the lagoon, where dips of 5 meters were recorded during Chido’s passage – never before seen – was also inspected. Several buoys have disappeared but the port pilots’ launches, which had been sheltered, dry, before the arrival of the cyclone, survived. The pilots therefore have the means to work and they know the lagoon well enough to guide the ships without needing markings. As a result, the first boats can dock this week in Longoni. First, units of the French Navy, which dispatched the surveillance frigate Floréal to the site, on patrol in the area, as well as the overseas support and assistance vessel (BSAOM) Champlain, which left Reunion on Sunday. after taking on board emergency cargo and electrical equipment (it should finally arrive this Thursday).
The container ship Onego Bora at Port Est, Reunion Island, on Wednesday, loading freight for Mayotte.
Launch of a civil maritime bridge from Reunion Island
A civil maritime bridge is now being put in place, the prefect of Mayotte announced on December 18. A first ship chartered by the State left the East Port of Reunion on Wednesday evening. This is the small container ship Onego Bora, 117 meters long and 19.7 meters wide, with a capacity of 619 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent, standard container size) and equipped with two cranes allowing it to carry out handling of containers autonomously. According to information collected by the television channel Réunion La 1ère, the Onego Bora loaded “158 containers, including 88 containers of water (i.e. several million liters), 20 of small household equipment, 15 of construction equipment, 13 of foodstuffs, six of miscellaneous grouping, five of generators, two of tarpaulins, one of hygiene and maintenance products, one of EDF equipment and one of supplies medical. Seven other containers carrying seven military vehicles, four vans and three wheeled armored vehicles of the Gendarmerie were also loaded. They will be intended in particular for transporting troops on site and for clearing roads. 13 other trucks should follow in the next boat.” The ship therefore only left at a third of its capacity but the main thing was to carry out as quickly as possible a first rotation with this maritime bridge, organized with CMA CGM and which will increase in power. Thus, three other rotations are planned by the French shipowner this month, four in January and five in February, other ships will participate in this effort.
Only one dock available at Longoni, the second having been under repair for years
And it is therefore the Mahorais terminal of Longoni which will serve as a logistics hub for this aid. Unfortunately, the commercial port of Mayotte at this stage only has one of its two available quays, quay no. 2, which can accommodate ships up to 275 meters in length. Quay No. 1 has been under construction for more than five years. This renovation project, which has fallen behind schedule, was normally due to be completed at the end of 2025. Unless this second quay can be put back into service urgently thanks to summary improvements, the port of Mayotte can therefore only rely on a only linear, which effectively limits its capabilities. Hence the interest in using vessels of relatively small size, which allows, on 275 meters of available quay, to be able, for example, to dock two container ships like the Onego Bora, or a boat of this type and the oceanographic and supply ship Marion Dufresne (120 meters) which will also come to help Mayotte. All local port services will have to be mobilized to organize these just-in-time calls, in particular the pilotage service, one of whose three pilots, recently retired, has not yet been replaced, with only one officer currently on site. . The port also relies on two tugs, with normally one hull permanently armed and the second which is armed with a crew coming from Reunion during the monthly stopover of an oil tanker in Mayotte. The latter docks at the “sea line”, an offshore terminal located at Dzaoudzi, which is used in particular to supply the airport with kerosene. Usually, this tanker goes first to Longoni before being taken the next day to the sea line, where it anchors its two anchors and is held at the stern by mooring on four chests.
After the emergency phase, the Mayotte port facilities will then be essential to lead the reconstruction work on the island. Or rather “construction”, as some local elected officials say, who hope that at least one positive thing will come out of this tragedy: “This tragedy is a tragic opportunity for Mayotte to be able to build itself”, declared MP Estelle Youssouffa on France Info , emphasizing the fact that the island, before the passage of the cyclone, was already “largely under-resourced with infrastructure under capacity compared to the needs of the population”.
© An article from the editorial staff of Mer et Marine. Reproduction prohibited without consent of the author(s).
