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CMA CGM + Marsa Maroc form joint venture: French logistics provider CMA CGM inked a 25-year agreement with Morocco’s leading port terminal manager Marsa Maroc to form a joint venture (JV) to equip and operate half of Nador West Med container terminal, according to a statement. The JV will invest USD 280 mn into the port’s infrastructure to achieve an annual terminal output of 1.2 mn TEU.
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Ownership breakdown: Marsa Maroc will hold a 51% share in the JV, while CMA CGM will have a 49% share.
The details: The partners will oversee operations in a section of the container terminal’s yard spanning 35 hectares and a 750 m section of quay. Under the JV, the terminal will be equipped with two additional transshipment cranes, bringing the total at the terminal to eight, as well as nine additional electric RTGs, bringing the total to 24.
About the port: Located in the Gibraltar zone, the port is capable of servicing the world’s biggest container vessels with a maximum draught capacity of 18 meters. It is also slated to become a Mediterranean hub for maritime bunkering for new synthetic energies like e-methane and e-methanol, the statement said, crediting Morocco’s budding green hydrogen production sector.
What they said: “Morocco is positioning itself as a strategic logistics and port hub with strong growth potential. Our ambition is to support the country’s development, particularly in the forward-looking sectors of logistics and alternative energies,” said CMA CGM CEO and Chairman Rodolphe Saadé.
A long-running partnership: CMA CGM has had a foothold in Morocco since 1983, with some 31 maritime services operating out of Morocco’s major ports of Agadir, Casablanca, and Tanger Med. The firm’s subsidiary, Terminal Link, owns 100% of a terminal in Casablanca Port and 40% of Tangiers Eurogate terminal.
Making moves in the region: The firm is part of a consortium set to take control of a container terminal at Egypt’s Dekheila Port. It also signed a contract in June with German port automation solutions provider Vahle for the electrification and automation of container blocks at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port. CMA CGM also partnered in March with KSA-based feeder and short-sea shipping operator Folk Maritime to launch an upgraded Red Sea service connecting ports in the Red Sea.
