Chantiers de l'Atlantique

The Chantiers de l'Atlantique

The Saint-Nazaire audio-guided tour has you discover the Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a gigantic industrial-port base where some of the largest ships in the world were born.

More than 160 years of shipbuilding

The ballet of cranes and gantries that punctuates the horizon of Saint-Nazaire is that of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique. In more than one hundred and sixty years, the naval industry and the city have given life to the largest liners, oil tankers and gas carriers in the world, among which the legendary France and Normandie. The adventure began in the nineteenth century, when the emperor Napoleon III decided to modernise the port facilities to make Saint-Nazaire a pioneer of transatlantic traffic. In January 1862, the Scottish industrialist John Scott signed a contract with the Pereire brothers, bankers at the head of the Compagnie generale transatlantique, for the construction of five liners. The Scott family, renowned for metal hulls, then trained a regional workforce of workers and peasants, laying the foundations of a know-how that still today makes the worldwide fame of the shipyard.

What there is to see

The Chantiers de l'Atlantique impress with the immensity of their cranes, gantries and slipways where the largest liners in the world are built. During guided tours, one approaches as close as possible to these giants under construction and to the industrial effervescence. It is a fascinating immersion in the know-how that makes the identity of Saint-Nazaire.

Practical information

The Chantiers de l'Atlantique are on the port of Saint-Nazaire. An active industrial site, they can be discovered only within guided tours, subject to a charge and generally on booking, whose hours are to be checked on site.

What is built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique?

Some of the largest liners in the world, as well as industrial ships, in the naval tradition of Saint-Nazaire since the nineteenth century.

Can one visit the shipyard?

Yes, within guided tours on booking, which allow one to approach the ships under construction.