Less than a decade ago, Tangier barely featured in the container shipping industry. Today, the Moroccan city has established itself as a trans-shipment hub for some of the largest operators in the business. Defying uncertain global trade conditions, the city saw container traffic surge by 42 per cent last year, reaching 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Development of the new Tangier-Med port complex, some 40 kilometres east of the city, has transformed this once local gateway into something with a wider impact, far beyond Morocco itself.

Improving image

For Morocco, Tangier-Med is one of several massive capital investments that mark a change in the country’s development, and potentially its image as a business location. The container port has been developed simultaneously with a high-speed train network, urban transit systems in Rabat and Casablanca, and an energy-efficient car factory.

Historically, Morocco’s main deep-sea gateway was Casablanca, while the chief role of Tangier was to act as a departure gateway for ferries to Europe. Casablanca remains a significant hub for Moroccan trade. The city’s main container terminal, operated by Somaport, has an annual capacity of 500,000 TEUs. In 2011, it handled 300,000 TEUs, so it has room to accommodate further growth.

But for the shipping industry, Tangier-Med’s significance depends on a crucial factor: location. Tangier is situated at the point where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, a convergence area between major shipping routes. This makes it an ideal location for the trans-shipment of containerised cargo between these various routes, while also broadening the range of destinations available to Moroccan exporters sending cargo abroad.

The key breakthroughs in making the concept of a new hub at Tangier a reality came with the 2005 signing of concession agreements with two major European container terminal operators – APM Terminals and Eurogate Tangier. These gave the project instant credibility and the prospect of significant cargo volumes. APM Terminals, part of the giant Danish shipping group AP Moller, opened its purpose-built terminal at Tangier-Med in 2007.

The following year saw the start of operations at the second e140m ($193.5m) terminal, operated by Eurogate Tangier. This is a partnership between a leading European container terminal operator, Eurogate/Contship Italia Group, and major shipping lines such as Switzerland-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, France’s CMA-CGM and the local Comanav.

The involvement of the two major players, each operating a terminal with eight giant super post Panamax cranes, delivering annual cargo-handling capacity of 1.3 million TEUs, has been the platform for Tangier-Med’s success so far. The port has established itself as a major trans-shipment hub, with a wide range of container shipping services to ports in Asia, Europe, Africa and other markets.

In 2010, work began on a further phase of the project, Tangier-Med 2, which will add 5.2 million TEUs of annual capacity, with quayside room to accommodate seven giant deep-sea container ships. The expansion incorporates two further container terminals.

The Moroccan government has also been developing rail connections for Tangier-Med, with the first serving Casablanca since 2009. Two terminals for vehicle transporter ships have also been built. One handles exports from French car manufacturer Renault’s Mellousa factory and regular services are being operated to ports in Europe. Alongside it is a terminal open to clients other than Renault. Tangier-Med also has fuel and general cargo facilities and a terminal handling ferry services to Algeciras in Spain and other Mediterranean ports.

Other countries

While Tangier-Med has clearly won a headstart, other Maghreb players are also hoping to win a share of the international trans-shipment market. Tunisia finally got the go-ahead from the government in late 2013 for a port with an annual capacity of 5 million TEUs at Enfidha in the northeast. A big attraction will be the water depth of 17 metres, enabling the port to accommodate much larger vessels than the current terminal at Rades.

Algeria has entrusted the UAE’s DP World with the development of a new container terminal with an annual capacity of 2 million TEUs at Djendjen, 350km from Algiers. But the project has suffered delays. CMA-CGM and the local Cevital had put forward proposals to develop a new port about 50km east of Algiers on a turnkey basis, but did not get state approval. Subsequently, the government commissioned South Korean consultants to examine the potential for the development of a site to the west of Algiers to replace the current port. The western port of Oran is already upgrading its container facilities, with the aim of boosting capacity from 200,000 TEUs a year to 1.5 million TEUs.

But even with these schemes, Tunisia and Algeria will have a hard time winning a share of the long-distance trans-shipment market in which Tangier-Med is already now well-established.