Container traffic at France's two major ports, Marseille and Le Havre, came to a standstill on Friday as a result of a 24-hour strike called by the CGT labour union in protest to what they claim to be an undermining of the right to strike.

Last week, port workers at Nantes-St Nazaire, on strike over the transfer of stevedores and crane drivers to the private sector, tried to prevent the official launch of luxury liner the MSC Magnifica, but police intervened and the vessel was able to take to the water.

"This was a stoppage out of solidarity with port workers at Nantes-St Nazaire and had nothing to do with the reform process at Le Havre, which is progressing," a spokesperson for the port authority told IFW, comments which were echoed by the Port of Marseille Authority.