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BCN-04
MOROCCO-ECONOMY-PORT
Morocco unveils extension plan to make port Med’s biggest
TANGIERS, Morocco, June 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Morocco on Friday unveiled
two new terminals at its vast Tanger Med port, tripling its capacity to make
it the Mediterranean’s biggest facility for maritime cargo.
The extension at the site on the Strait of Gibraltar, already one of
Africa’s biggest ports, was officially opened by Prince Moulay Hassan, son of
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
The megaport’s management said two new terminals would boost Tanger Med’s
overall capacity from 3.47 million to nine million twenty-foot equivalent
units — a rough measure based on the capacity of standard shipping
containers.
“Tanger today represents the top port in the Mediterranean in terms of
capacity,” said Fouad Brini, head of the Tanger Med special agency that
developed the site.
“That’s something to be proud of.”
The extension is the result of nine years of work and 1.3 billion euros of
public funding along with an equivalent amount pumped in by private
investors, said port director Rachid Houari.
Tanger Med, in operation since 2007, occupies a strategic position on the
entrance to the Mediterranean, within sight of the Spanish coast.
That enables it to utilise its proximity to European markets as well as
cheap Moroccan labour.
An industrial zone at the site employs some 70,000 people.
Last year the port handled 52.2 million tonnes of cargo, over a third of
it destined for Africa.
It also has a passenger terminal that last year welcomed some three
million travellers.
BSS/AFP/HR/1000