Commercial passenger traffic will soon resume at the port of Al Hoceima, in anticipation, no doubt, of the arrival of Moroccans residing abroad (MREs). The National Ports Agency (ANP), the Regional Investment Center of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and the local authorities are actively working on the project.
A few days before the new year, the forecasts for container traffic at the Algeciras level show a result similar to that of 2019. Thus, regarding container traffic, the battle is set to be tough between the two mega-ports of the strait, namely TangerMed and Algeciras.
Before 2021, the container activity of the Tanger Med port complex will exceed the bar of 5.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled, i.e. a growth of +18% compared to 2019.
The Directorate of Ports and the Maritime Public Domain of the Moroccan Ministry of Equipment has just launched the call for tenders, with pre-selection, for the construction work of the strategic Atlantique Dakhla port. The opening of the bids is scheduled for January 21, 2021 at 10 a.m. in Rabat.
168 illegal immigrants were intercepted on Wednesday and Thursday last in makeshift boats in the Mediterranean. They were all brought back to various ports in the north of the Kingdom and handed over to the authorities.
Despite the crisis related to the coronavirus, traffic in Moroccan ports has been maintained with nearly 32 million tons processed by the end of April 2020.
To better monitor the Moroccan coasts, the facilities of the Maritime Traffic Surveillance Center (CSTM) in Tangier will undergo an upgrade. To this end, the Ministry of Equipment has just launched a tender whose overall cost is estimated at 16 million dirhams.
The crossing could have turned into a tragedy. Last week, a ship from the Inter Shipping company, carrying out the transit operation of MREs, was sailing with a breach in the hold.