With construction work on schedule, the 550-square- kilometer Special Development Zone, also known as the Tanger-Med port, will be operational in July according to recent government announcements. The first customers looking to use the Tanger-Med facilities are now able to set up in the northern city of Tangier. The zone is designed to emerge as a key transit point for container traffic between the US and the Mediterranean region.
When the Moroccan government launched the Tanger-Med project in 2002 in the north of the country, its aim was to develop this region as a strategic center for transshipment, industry and trade. The project was managed by a governmental agency with privately-held company status, the Tanger-Med Special Agency.
Among the services and facilities offered by the port are a 53km extension to the Casablanca-Tangier highway, and a 45km railway connecting the port to the city of Tangier. The close proximity of the port will ensure the quick and efficient movement of goods and effective connectivity to regional and international markets.
Tanger-Med port offers logistic facilities accessible by sea, land and air for investors. The container terminal has 2,100 meters of berths with two container terminals operated by APM terminals and Eurogate-Contship. These possess 3.5m TEUs of nominal capacity and allow a draught up to 18 meters, well within the range of even the largest bulk freight transporters.
The ro-ro terminal has a capacity of eight berths, connection to the railway passenger station and the capacity for 5m passengers, 1m cars and 500,000 trucks per annum.
With a berth at 15 meters water depth and an open area of 15 hectares, the bulk and general cargo terminal looks to target the grain business.
Already planning the extension
The hydrocarbons terminal is designed to offer bunkering services to vessels calling at the port and to supply the port hinterland with refined oil products. It has a capacity of 2m tons per year. If all goes according to the plan, Tanger-Med will receive its first commercial ship in July. In fact, because about half of the project was completed within 18 months, there are already plans for its extension. Muhammad Said Benameur, the chief project director, said that, “Since the Tanger-Med has been a success, notably in terms of timing, we have already endorsed its extension before the first zone even started to be operational.” The second phase of the project will be 100% funded by the private sector, he added.
Tanger-Med already plans to raise its capacity as traffic across the Gibraltar strait is expected to increase significantly. “We expect sea traffic to rise by 7% or 8% in the next five to eight years worldwide,” said the president of TMSA, Said Elhadi. “Knowing that the number of containers crossing the Strait of Gibraltar represents about 20% of global traffic, Tanger-Med will consequently be directly affected by worldwide growth, which will eventually have major consequences for the region.”
Elhadi added, “The terminals will see a rapid increase in traffic in the coming years. Tanger Med II has been launched in preparation of our existing and potential customers’ needs. The project will help to increase significantly the capacity of the port facilities from 2012-2013 onwards.”
The existing Tangier Free Zone demonstrates the potential of Tangier-Med. The July 25 edition of pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that following its establishment in 1999, it had created some 16,000 jobs. The daily also reported that approximately 115 Moroccan and foreign companies were located in the area, with another 77 companies expected to set up shop. As a result, total jobs provided by the free zone was expected to reach 22,000 by the end of 2007.
One important development was the announcement in June that Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority International had been awarded the 10-year logistics free zone management concession at the port, an important achievement for the company, which already has free zone management experience outside Dubai, in both Djibouti and at Malaysia’s Port Klang Free Zone.
The establishment of Tanger-Med should also help to boost the development of Morocco’s northern region. The director of the Regional Center for Investment, Jelloul Samsseme, said that the port would help to reinforce the region’s existing infrastructure, create new export-oriented free trade zones and raise the skill level of the workforce in the region.
On the same note, the general director of the Agency for the Promotion and Economic Development of Northern Provinces, Fouad Brini, told the press that Tanger-Med will be a positive development in integrating the north of Morocco with the rest of the kingdom and facilitate the integration between the northern provinces themselves, especially by setting up facilities that will encourage large-scale trade and industrial activities in the region.
