Carriers keep the price pressure on – a 'shock and awe' PSS the standout
Container spot freight rates on the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades rose for the sixth consecutive ...
Artist's impression (Photo: Marsa Maroc)
CMA CGM’s port subsidiary, CMA Terminals, has finalised its agreement with Moroccan port operator Marsa Maroc to develop the new West Container Terminal at Nador West Med.
Set to bring fresh transhipment capacity to the region – which, since the onset of the Red Sea crisis has sometimes been almost overwhelmed by transhipment boxes en route to East Mediterranean ports – the terminal is now scheduled to launch operations in 2027.
The facility will feature 900 metres of quay, with a draught alongside of 18 metres, operated by eight ship-to-shore cranes, and supported by 37.5ha of yard area, covering a total surface of 60 ha.
Total throughput capacity will reach 1.8m teu a year.
“This partnership aims to develop a state-of-the-art terminal at Nador West Med, meeting the highest international standards of performance and connectivity,” said CMA CGM.
“It will also help position the port as a major transhipment hub in the Mediterranean, enhancing Morocco’s logistical attractiveness and integration into the world’s main shipping lanes.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Marsa Maroc will hold a 51% stake in the new facility, and CAMTermianls 49%.
It will bring much needed relief to the currently strained transhipment capacity in the region – according to the eeSea liner database, the main other West Mediterranean transhipment hubs were all operating at well over design capacity last year, with the accepted port industry rule of thumb that congestion begins to accumulate when as terminal has reached 75% utilisation and above.
Morocco’s Tanger port, as well as the Spanish gateways of Algeciras, Valencia, and Barcelona, saw 2024 throughput breach that level, according to eeSea data.
Source: eeSea
Meanwhile, at Nador West, a further terminal is under development by Marsa Maroc, with MSC as its minority joint-venture partner, and which the Moroccan operator said earlier this year would take the port’s total capacity to 3.4m teu a year.
Comment on this article