(ANSAmed) – RABAT, MARCH 8 – Despite the impact of the global economic crisis, Tanger Med, the Moroccan port of Tangier, seems to keep rising on the list of ports with growing transported volumes. Tanger Med is confirming its importance as international port.
Built on the Strait of Gibraltar, the second-busiest passage in the world with over 100 thousand ships per year, the port is strategically located for commercial transports between Asia, Europe and America. The structure includes the ports Tanger Med 1, which became operational after three years of work in July 2007, and Tanger Med 2, an extension meant to increase its total capacity from the current 3.5 million to 8.5 million containers by 2016. According to data released by the local port authority (TMPA), Tanger Med recorded global traffic totalling around 27 million tonnes in 2011: a growth of more than 17% compared with the previous year. In the container sector, which mainly covers the route to West Africa, Asia and South America and connects the Middle East to the north of Europe, the increase was 1.7%, with over 2 million units moved (around 70% of national volume).
This growth seems limited compared to a global average of a 7% growth. According to the TMPA, this was caused by social unrest in the companies that ship the containers, Eurogate and APM Terminals. This unrest has moved part of the activities to the competing port of Algeciras, in Spain. The real boost in 2011, compared to 2010, came from traffic on ferries, which saw a 67% rise in transported lorries. This sharp increase was made possible by the effectiveness of the road infrastructure leading to Tanger Med, passing through Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, to Agadir, also giving easy access to the farming region of Souss. The number of moved passengers (over 1.7 million) and light vehicles (over 600,000) also climbed, by 51% and 67% respectively. This development was mainly caused by the fact that long-distance sea routes were moved from the port of Tanger Ville in 2011 and by an increase in the frequency of these routes, particularly to Italy. The outlook for the year 2012 is even better. Early this year, Renault’s production site in Melloussa – from where 90% of manufactured products will be exported – became operational.
This is likely to give traffic through the port of Tanger Med a further boost. Moreover, the port now has a new hydrocarbon terminal, opened in February. The goal of this structure is to enable ships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to refuel on-shore and off-shore. The terminal, which cost 134 million euros to build, can also supply fuel to the companies in the free-trade zone of Tanger Med.(ANSAmed).
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