For a very long time, Saint-Malo served as a harbour for ships that were built elsewhere. However, after 1670 – spurred, no doubt, by construction bonuses introduced by Colbert – local naval construction was a key factor in the increase in Saint-Malo's port activity. In 1689, Jean Magon de la Lande noted that, "some twenty years ago, the shipwrights of Saint-Malo began themselves to build and sell ships of all sizes…" (Lespagnol 1997: 42). We know very little about these local shipyards, which were set up at the Sillon dike to the north, and at Saint Servan, le Val and Solidor to the south. In the second half of the 17th century, however, under the unprecedented rise of commerce raiding, it was these very sites that gave rise to the prototype frigate that would become the standard ship of the Saint-Malo fleet.
To ensure logistical support for its naval and trading activities, the city and its environs could call upon a vast pool of experienced labour. This was not enough to meet local needs – far from it – but at least it provided ship-builders with qualified overseers on each of their ships.