Port operator APM Terminals to develop a new transshipment terminal in Tangier with an annual capacity of five million TEUs. APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will become operational in 2019, serving multiple trades and will be the first automated terminal in Africa.
The 30-year concession of APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will complement the current operations of the existing APM Terminals Tangier facility.
APM Terminals has been named as the operator of a new container transshipment terminal at the Tanger Med 2 port complex. APM Terminals already operates the APM Terminals Tangier facility at Tanger Med 1 port, which started operations in July of 2007 and handled 1.7 million TEUs in 2015. The new terminal will have annual capacity of five million TEUs. Total investment in the new terminal is expected to be EUR 758 million.
Maersk Line will be an important customer of the new terminal. The new terminal is scheduled to open in 2019, under the terms of a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA), which has responsibility for the development and management of the Tanger Med port complex.
The Tanger-Med port complex is strategically located on Africa’s northwest coast near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet. Tanger-Med is the second-busiest container port on the African continent after Port Said, Egypt. The new APM Terminals MedPort Tangier terminal will increase the port’s total annual throughput capacity to over nine million TEUs.
APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will feature state of the art technology and have up to 2,000 meters of quay length and will feature the technology pioneered at the APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Rotterdam terminal which opened in 2015.
APM Terminals will create a new organization in Tangier, adding a large number of new jobs and be responsible for the completion of the terminal yard, surface, buildings, container handling equipment, and integrated automated systems. The quay wall construction and site reclamation for the first 1,200 meters has been completed by the Tangier Med Port Authority, which is part of TMSA.
“APM Terminals has been in Morocco since the creation of our first company APM Terminals Tangier in March 2005 in partnership with AKWA Group and the start of port operations in July 2007. Today’s announcement shows our strong commitment to investing in trade and improving supply chains in the West Med market. Morocco and its port arm, TMSA, have been very supportive of APM Terminal’s vision for the West Med. APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will bring important innovation and future capacity into the West Med market on one of the world’s most strategic seaways – the Strait of Gibraltar” said APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer.
Source & Image Credit: APM Terminals
