Port Development in Morocco – Let’s Take a Quick Look

Morocco has some great plans to boost their international maritime trade in the country, and their ports play a massive role in this, which is why so much is going into port development. This year marks nine years since Morocco started their port career, and in 2010 it developed a major strategy of expansion and creation of ports throughout the whole of the Moroccan territory: The National Ports Strategy (SNP), with a clear horizon fixed on 2030.  They are approaching the halfway point and are on track so far!

We’re taking a look at two ports in Morocco that are showing a lot of promise and some exciting development.

Dakhla Atlantic Port

If you are unfamiliar with this port, that’s probably because it is fairly new and still under construction. This flagship megaproject is being developed for Morocco’s southern provinces and with the aim of being a bridge between Morocco and Africa. Morocco is aiming to be the international gateway to Africa, and this incredible port will be an entry point for international carriers. The Dakhla Atlantic Port will boast a port dedicated to coastal and deep-sea fishing, a port dedicated to the shipbuilding industry, and a -16 m/zh deep commercial port. The port will be supported by an industrial-logistics zone of 1,650 hectares which will offer logistical and industrial services.

“Consistent with this vision, the Atlantic coast to the south of the Kingdom, bordering the Moroccan Sahara, will serve as an area for the achievement of economic complementarity as well as continental and international prominence,” King Mohammed VI said about Dakhla Atlantic Port.

Tangie-Med Port

Tangier-Med mega-port has been operating since 2007 and has continued to grow from strength to strength. This port underwent an extension in 2019, and since then it has become the largest port in the entire Mediterranean in terms of the capacity of traded containers. To put things in perspective, recently the top spot in the Mediterranean has been disputed between Piraeus in Greece and Valencia, both of whom move between 5.44 million and 5.65 million TEU containers each year, but Tangier-Med has the capacity to move 9 million TEUs in this same time period.

With lots of exciting development happening at ports in Morocco, this country certainly plans to make better use of both large and small ports.

If you require underwater services at ports in Morocco, get in touch with us!