CMA CGM forms JV with Marsa Maroc to invest $280M in Nador West Med terminal

October 29, 2024, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

French container shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM Group has signed a joint venture agreement with Morocco’s port terminal management firm Marsa Maroc to equip and operate for 25 years a 750-meter section of quay and 35 hectares of yard within the Nador West Med container terminal.

The joint venture, in which CMA CGM and Marsa Maroc will hold 49% and 51% respectively, will equip and operate 50% of the Nador West Med container terminal.

Already present in Morocco in the Eurogate Tangiers and Casablanca container terminals (via SOMAPORT), the CMA CGM Group said it is pursuing with this strategic and operational agreement its development as “a major player in the country’s supply chain”.

Within the framework of a 25-year sub-concession, the CMA CGM Group and Marsa Maroc will make major investments totaling $280 million, with the aim of achieving an annual terminal output of 1.2 million TEUs.

Capable of handling the world’s largest container ships with a maximum draught of 18 meters, the terminal will eventually be equipped with 8 transshipment cranes, compared with 6 at present, and 24 electric RTGs, compared with 15 at present.

Morocco’s new port of Nador West Med is located in the strategic Gibraltar zone, in the Bay of Betoya, on the Oued Kert estuary.

Thanks to the country’s green hydrogen production sector, Nador West Med is also destined to become a maritime bunkering hub for new synthetic energies in the Mediterranean (e-methane and e-methanol), notably for the CMA CGM Group’s fleet of dual-fuel gas and methanol vessels.

“Morocco is positioning itself as a strategic logistics and port hub with strong growth potential. The partnership we are entering into with Marsa Maroc marks a key step for the CMA CGM Group, strengthening our presence through the Nador West Med container terminal. Our ambition is to support the country’s development, particularly in the forward-looking sectors of logistics and alternative energies,” Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, commented.

Established in Morocco since 1983, the CMA CGM Group has 31 maritime services operating out of the three main Moroccan ports (Agadir, Casablanca, Tanger Med) and serves 81 ports directly from Morocco. Through its subsidiary Terminal Link, CMA CGM owns 100% of a Casablanca terminal (via SOMAPORT), as well as 40% of the Eurogate Tangiers terminal.

With La Méridionale, a mixed-use freight and passenger shipping company it acquired in 2023, CMA CGM also operates a ferry service between Marseille and Tanger-Med.