What Marfret does

Marfret is a privately-held French maritime transport company headquartered in Marseille, originally established in 1985 as Marseille Fret. It operates regular containerized shipping services across nine maritime lines spanning the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific South, South America (Brazil, French Guiana), and the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia), with more than 80 direct port calls worldwide. The company runs a fleet of seven vessels and complements its core container business with specialized reefer transport (approximately 20,000 refrigerated units per year) and a multipurpose vessel (MPV) service dedicated to non-containerizable cargo such as breakbulk and rolling stock on a 42-day round-trip cycle between North Europe, the Antilles and French Guiana. Through wholly-owned subsidiaries Marfret Inland Services and Fluviofeeder, the company extends its offering to river and intermodal transport on the Seine axis, connecting deep-sea ports to Paris-region distribution centers.

The company's commercial technology stack is modest: a third-party customer portal powered by Locus Software for booking management and container tracking, a public Route Finder tool, and an Eco Calculator that quantifies shipment carbon footprints. Operational technology centers on integrated service provision — combining vessel operations, port agency work, and stevedoring under one organization — and on a direct port-call model that avoids the transshipment handoffs typical of larger carriers. The company differentiates itself on reliability, fixed-day scheduling, and specialized reefer/MPV expertise rather than on AI-driven optimization.

Marfret generates revenue through transaction fees on container, reefer, MPV, and inland transport shipments, with pricing provided via custom quotations that vary by route, cargo type, and volume. It distributes services through a direct enterprise sales model via a network of port agencies, supplemented by the self-serve customer portal and Route Finder. Primary customers are international freight shippers trading between Europe and Caribbean/South American markets and French logistics companies requiring pre- and post-carriage for international containers; the company also serves project cargo and heavy-lift shippers via its MPV service and Breakbulk Europe presence.

Name

Marfret

Legal name

Marfret

Website

https://www.marfret.fr/le-groupe/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Marfret is a French privately-held maritime container shipping line operating nine regular services with 80+ direct port calls across Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and the Maghreb, complemented by reefer, multipurpose vessel, and inland river transport capabilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Container Shipping Services

NAICS

Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation (48311), Coastal and Great Lakes Freight Transportation (483113), Marine Cargo Handling (48832), Port and Harbor Operations (488310)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400), Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Refrigerated Ocean Shipping (Reefer Containers & Specialized Reefer Vessels) (TLADAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sea–Road (Short-Sea/Drayage) Intermodal Forwarding (TLACAEAB)

Keywords

• Container shipping services
• Maritime transport
• Refrigerated cargo transport
• Inland waterway transport
• Multipurpose project cargo

Headquarters

HQ city

Marseille

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Maritime Container Transport: Primary revenue stream from transporting standardized shipping containers on regular maritime lines. Revenue is generated through container fees based on cargo volume, container type, and route. Services include standard containers, specialized reefer containers, and out-of-gauge cargo.
2. Multipurpose Vessel (MPV) Transport: Transport of non-containerizable cargo including breakbulk, rolling stock, and conventional cargo. Operates as a dedicated 42-day service between North Europe, Antilles, and Guyana.
3. River/Inland Transport Services: Marfret Inland Services (Fluviofeeder) provides pre and post-carriage of international containers via fluvial transport on the Seine axis. Includes shuttle services, warehousing, and rail connections to Paris region distribution centers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Marfret is a regular-container shipping line that provides direct port-call container transport across nine maritime lines (Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific South, Maghreb). It offers specialized reefer (temperature-controlled) container transport, multipurpose vessel (MPV) service for non-containerizable breakbulk and project cargo, and inland/fluvial transport via its Marfret Inland Services (Fluviofeeder) shuttle on the Seine axis with warehousing and rail connections to the Paris region.

Product overview

Marfret is a regular-container shipping line company offering an integrated maritime transport service portfolio. The core offerings include Maritime Transport (regular container shipping on 9 maritime lines covering Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific South, and Maghreb), Reefer Transport (temperature-controlled containers with 20,000 units/year capacity), Multipurpose Vessel (MPV) for non-containerizable cargo (1,212 linear meters, 42-day transit), and Fluvial/Inland Services (river transport on the Seine axis via Marfret Inland Services). Supporting these are container fleet management (45,000 TEUs/year), Route Finder, Container Tracking, Eco Calculator, and Customer Portal tools. The company operates from Marseille with over 80 port calls worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Maritime Container Transport (Transport Maritime) Regular container shipping service on fixed schedules across nine maritime lines covering the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific South, and Maghreb regions, with direct port calls and integrated multimodal capabilities. Aimed at international freight shippers moving containerized goods between Europe and Caribbean/South American markets.
• Reefer Transport (Transport Réfrigéré) Temperature-controlled container transport service using a fleet of next-generation refrigerated containers for sensitive goods across all maritime lines, with approximately 20,000 reefers transported annually. Targeted at shippers of perishable and temperature-sensitive cargo requiring controlled cold-chain conditions.
• Multipurpose Vessel (MPV) / Project Cargo Transport MultiPurposeVessel service dedicated to transporting non-containerizable cargo including breakbulk, rolling stock, and conventional cargo, with 1,212 linear meters capacity and a 42-day transit cycle between North Europe, the Antilles, and French Guiana. Aimed at heavy-lift and project cargo shippers.
• Fluvial / Inland Transport (Marfret Inland Services) River and intermodal transport service on the Seine axis, providing barge shuttle operations between Port2000 and the Roue Hub platform, warehouse storage, and fluvial or rail forwarding to and from the Paris region. Aimed at French logistics companies needing massified, ecological pre/post-carriage of international containers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80+ direct port calls globally
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Unifeeder: European short-sea container feeder network (owned by DP World) with high port-call density and direct-call schedules. Comparable as a feeder/short-sea specialist operating between Europe's secondary ports.
• X-Press Feeders: Singapore-headquartered independent container feeder operator with strong European presence, operating direct-call services in the Mediterranean and North Europe. Comparable niche-carrier model and port network approach.
• Grimaldi Lines: Italian shipping group operating multipurpose and ro-ro vessels in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, including services connecting Europe to the Caribbean and West Africa. Highly comparable given shared MPV/breakbulk focus and similar niche-carrier positioning.
• WEC Lines: European short-sea and intra-European container feeder operator with a network of direct port calls across the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and West Africa. Closely comparable direct-call, niche-line business model.
• Arkas Line: Turkey-based container line serving the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and West Africa with regular scheduled direct calls. Comparable as a regional liner with similar network density and direct-port strategy.

Broad incumbents

• CMA CGM: Marseille-headquartered global container shipping leader, the dominant French-flagged ocean carrier. Comparable as a France-based container operator on overlapping Mediterranean and Caribbean trade lanes, though far larger in scale and scope.
• Hapag-Lloyd: Germany-headquartered major liner serving Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean trades. Operates as a direct competitor on Europe–Americas container routes, though at much greater scale and within global alliances.
• MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company: World's largest container carrier with global network covering Mediterranean, Caribbean, and South America. Competes with Marfret on trunk routes but at vastly different scale; relevant for benchmarking alliance-driven market dynamics.

Emerging players

• LD Lines / DFDS: Originally a French short-sea and ferry operator, now part of DFDS. Operates passenger/RoRo and freight services in similar Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors, partially overlapping with Marfret's Ferrymar service.

Others

• Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement - Compagnie Générale Maritime (CMA CGM historical): Marfret's predecessor context: the historic French shipping families (CMA, CGM) consolidated into CMA CGM. Cited here as the historical/competitive benchmark for French maritime shipping heritage relevant to Marfret's positioning and customer relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/marfret
• Instagraminstagram.com/marfretofficiel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marfret