When Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan gave, in late June 2019, the official launch of the second port of Tangier Med, he was not only announcing the transformation of this facility into the largest and most important port in the Mediterranean basin and the continent of Africa, but also was confirming that the decision of his father, King Mohammed VI regarding the inauguration of a new port in the far north of the Kingdom, it has already succeeded in changing the face of Morocco economically, turning it into a real gateway for commercial exchanges and an attractive center for investments in the field of industry, services, and logistics.
It is truly the most prominent project of the era of King Mohammed VI, as it is a port that has been gradually expanding since its announcement in the Throne Speech of 2002, to become a giant integrated space, specializing in trade, logistics, industry, and services, extending its power in the Mediterranean and announcing the end of the era of Spanish primacy, and the beginning of Morocco's sovereignty over Maritime trade, with competitive capabilities which indicate that what has been achieved so far is only the beginning.
An integrated strategic project
According to official figures, this port can receive about 7 million passengers, 2 million cars, and 700,000 trucks for international road transport annually, on eight berths. As for the level of equipment, the passenger port is available on 35 hectares of flat land, and it is based on many anchor spaces located directly near the port.
The areas of the passenger port include the entry and border inspection area for trucks at Gate No. 1 extending over an area of 8 hectares, the entry and border inspection area for passengers at Gate No. 2 extending over 6 hectares, then the entry and control area for light commercial vehicles at Gate No. 3 extending over an area of 8 hectares, It allows traffic control during peak periods and contains windows for navigation companies, the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, and others.
As for the area for controlling the movement of international land transport, it extends over an area of three hectares, and is located in the Logistics Free Zone, in addition to a control area in Al-Qasr Al-Saghir town.
Talking about the effectiveness of the Tangier Med port, which made it continuously advance in international efficiency standards, does not complete without addressing the digitization approach that has been followed within this port since its opening, as the port authorities have included this matter among the main strategic axes of development operations. Therefore, it has its own port system called PCS, which is in line with international standards.
The digital services of the port complex's computers are designed to meet the needs of maritime operators working in the field of transshipment flows, as well as national economic actors in the field of import and export, including managing marine calls, organizing and arranging ship movement and reservation operations, in addition to controlling data for commercial operations units, whether with regard to the arrival or departure of goods, and also extends to include billing operations, multi-channel performance, tracking of freight units, summary announcements, codes, and reference numbers for the arrival of goods to the European Union and others.
According to Hassan Abkari, Director General of the Tangier Med Port Authority, the Tangier Med Port complex currently represents nearly half of the Kingdom’s trade with the rest of the world in terms of volume and value, and it has made it possible to achieve a territorial rebalance in northern Morocco through the establishment of a new industrial and social pole in less than 20 years. With the provision of more than 100,000 job opportunities, and access to more than 20 billion euros in terms of value, especially in the field of exports in 2022.
Abkari added that the port and industrial complex are integrated with the infrastructure of road and railway links. And the continuation of its development made it possible to see the great growth that Tangier and Tetouan regions witness compared to other regions in the Kingdom. This concept is based mainly on enhancing Morocco's competitiveness through a first-class logistics offer, which has steadily attracted major players in various fields, most notably the automotive, aviation, and textile industries, as well as the strong field of services. The port made it possible to create many business clusters allowing the kingdom to reach previously unpredictable levels of industrial competitiveness.
Vast spaces for industrial competitiveness
The complex, which began operating 16 years ago, extends over an area of one million square meters and includes the first Tangier Med port, which contains two container terminals, a railway station, a fuel terminal, a diversified commodity terminal, and a car terminal. Then the port of Tangier Med for passengers and trucks, which has berths designated for the boarding of passengers and the boarding of international transport trucks, the organizing points, and the passenger terminal. In addition to the second port of Tangier Med, which contains two container terminals, as well as the Tanger Med Business Center.
Tangier Med is also a regional platform for industrial competitiveness, as its industrial zones extend over an area of 16 million square meters. It is a regional platform for industrial competitiveness, logistics, services, and trade. This platform includes Tangier Free Zone, Tangier Automotive City, Tetouan Park, Tetouan Shore, Free Trade Zone for Logistics Services, and the Renault-Tanger Med Zone.
The first Tangier Med port, which includes two container terminals, TC1 and TC2, a railway station, a hydrocarbon terminal, a terminal for various goods, and a terminal for cars. As for the second port of Tangier Med, it also includes two container terminals, namely TC3 and TC4. While the Tangier Med passenger port includes entry areas, border inspection points, passenger boarding docks, international truck boarding, and procedures areas, in addition to the seaport.
Among the important and qualitative matters in this port complex is the Medhub Logistics Free Zone, which is the company that manages the logistics free zone for the port of Tangier Med, in addition to the Tanger Med Business Center dedicated to receiving companies and locating the tacit activities necessary to manage the port complex.
Hassan Abkari said that the national reference logistics area, which is affiliated with the Tangier Med port complex, has witnessed a strong turnout from senior logistics actors in the world over the past few years, and among these actors, there are DHL, CEVA Logistics, Nippon Express, GEFCO, Dachser, Emirates, Decahtlon, DB Shenker, Adidas, who all settled in Tangier Med in order to operate their distribution centers towards the continents of Africa, Europe, and America, adding that the area has been developed according to international standards on an area of 200 hectares, and offers a real estate offer, including ready-to-use warehouses for logistics services, and advanced stores.
A gigantic complex linked to 180 ports
The port of Tangier Med provides an international connection covering approximately 180 ports and 70 countries on 5 continents, according to information obtained by Assahifa from the port administration. For example, the port of Tangier Med is located 10 days from the United States and 20 days from China, and thus is considered the hub of the African continent, and serves approximately 35 ports and 21 countries in the West African region through weekly flights.
It is not possible to mention this giant port complex without talking about its pivotal logistical role nationally, regionally, and continentally. According to the port administration, it is an integrated logistical and industrial platform, connected to a multi-modal transport network, specifically railways and highways, for the transport of goods and passengers to all economic regions in the Kingdom.
The terminals and all port activities are operated under concession contracts concluded with well-known companies at the global level. This trend has been evident since the opening of the first berth in 2007, leading to the fourth berth, which was inaugurated in 2019. The port of Tangier Med includes the largest global shipping and logistics, such as Maersk, CMA CGM, and MSC, as well as leading port companies such as APM Terminals and EUROGATE.
Container berths.. commercial sweeper
With regard to the four container terminals of the port, the first is operated by APM Terminals and cost an investment amount of 150 million euros, and the volume of traffic in it reaches 1.6 million containers, and it is the oldest in the port, as its activity began in July of the year 2007. This is followed by the second terminal, which is operated by Eurogate and CMA-CGM, which in turn cost an investment of 150 million euros, and has a volume of 1.4 million containers.
As for the third container terminal, which started its work in January 2021, it cost 240 million euros, and its capacity is to process one million containers, and Tanger Alliance is responsible for its operation. As for the fourth container terminal, the largest ever, which was completed at a cost of 780 million euros, and its berth length reaches 2000 meters, compared to 800 meters for other berths, it can handle 5 million containers and is operated by APM Terminals.
If the port complex of Tangier Med is mentioned, it is necessary to talk about many other economic activities that it embraces, foremost of which is the automobile industry, as it has a station for vehicles with a capacity of one million cars, and the main customer of this station remains Renault and Stilantis. This station extends over an area of 20 hectares, including 7 hectares for common use, and is designated for the import and export of cars and their shipment.
In this port complex itself, there is a fuel station with a capacity of 15 million tons that can be used for import and export operations, and it extends over an area of 12 hectares and is designated for storing fuel, supplying ships with fuel, shipping, and exporting refined products.
Then there is also the miscellaneous commodities station, which extends over an area of 5 hectares and is dedicated to the import and export activities of the industrial companies located in the region, with high capacities for re-export and processing of up to 800 thousand tons of various commodities. In addition to that, there is the Logistics Free Zone, which provides real estate offers that include equipped warehouses and lands, in addition to stations for land and sea freight towards Africa, Europe, China, and the United States, as well as to integrated offers of services by international logistical players.
For an integrated economic performance, the port complex is linked to other basic infrastructures. On this basis, it has a railway station that extends over an area of 10 hectares and contains 3 tracks with a length of 800 meters, while its annual capacity is 400 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units. This network connects the main cities of Morocco.
Efficiency: The 4th in the world and the 1st in the Mediterranean and Africa
The ambition of the port of Tangier Med to compete for the top of the world’s ports is no longer a secret to anyone, which is confirmed by official Moroccan figures and international reports. One of which is "The Container Port Performance Index 2022", issued in May of the year 2023, as the Moroccan port complex ranked fourth among 370 ports in the world, essentially outperforming its direct competitor at the western entrance to the Mediterranean basin, the Spanish port of Algeciras.
The ranking issued by the World Bank and the “Standard & Poor’s” institution specialized in the financial field, also placed the port of Tangier Med in the fourth rank in the world after it was ranked sixth only a year ago, behind the Chinese port of Yangshan, the port of Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman, and the port of Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates.
The port of Tangier Med surpassed famous ports such as the Chinese port of Gwangju, the Japanese Yokohama, the Egyptian Port Said, the American Virginia & Miami, as well as the famous port of Singapore. It is also noticeable that it was the first in Africa and the Mediterranean basin, but rather the best outside the continent of Asia, in addition to resolving the competition in its favor with Spanish ports, especially the port of Algeciras, which fell from rank 11 to rank 16, and the port of Barcelona, which fell from 22nd to 34th.
Abkari believes that this rank pushes the port authorities to continuous improvement by strengthening the capacity of the infrastructure and continuous involvement in the digitization process, in order to ensure the automation of port operations to the maximum extent possible, whether at the sea or land level.
The same official indicated that the World Bank classification also places the Tangier Med port first in the Europe and Africa region in terms of operational efficiency, which is a result of the participatory approach and cooperation between all stakeholders, whether it is related to berth operators and shipping lines or public administrations responsible for control and security.
He added that the management of the port complex follows a method based on taking into account the expectations of customers to carry out their tasks and achieve their commercial goals, allowing for continuous improvement of operating conditions and reducing transit time and operating costs.
