That violence brought an overnight curfew to Port Gentil which was repeated Friday and will continue, Ndongou says, "as long as necessary if calm does not prevail."

VOA: standard.2009.09.05

Following the stop in Brest, the race is scheduled to continue in September with stops in Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and France and then continue to others port in the Pacific.

UNESCO: Race for Water sets sail for Brest

Part of the M20 in Kent remains closed as police and port officials continue to regulate freight traffic heading for Dover and the Channel Tunnel.

BBC: M20 in Kent still disrupted by cross-channel backlog

But he says local talks would continue without threat of interrupting any port operation.

WSJ: Ports, longshoremen avert strike