Maersk–APM has signed a concession agreement to develop a new container terminal at Tanger Med 3 in Morocco.
The agreement was announced by Morocco’s Royal Cabinet following a working session chaired by King Mohammed VI at the Royal Palace in Rabat. The meeting reviewed the development of Tanger Med 3 and the approaching launch of the first container terminal at Nador West Med.
Construction work on Tanger Med 3 is expected to begin shortly. The new port will be located west of Tanger Med 2 and will include 1,200 metres of quay.
The development will add annual handling capacity of 4.5 million containers. Planned investment in the project amounts to 8 billion Moroccan dirhams.
The project will also support the ongoing expansion of Tanger Med’s passenger and roll-on/roll-off facilities. In addition, it will enable the eastern extension of Tanger Med 2.
Once the new projects are completed, the Tanger Med complex could reach total annual capacity of 20 million containers. According to the Royal Cabinet, this could place the Moroccan port complex among the world’s 10 largest container ports.
The Royal Cabinet also confirmed that the initial phase of Nador West Med’s first container terminal is expected to enter operation within the coming days.
The terminal will eventually offer capacity of 3.5 million containers. Meanwhile, a second container terminal with capacity of 1.8 million containers is scheduled to begin operations in April 2027.
Together, the two terminals represent 8 billion dirhams of private investment.
Public and private investment across the wider Nador West Med port and industrial complex has reached 54 billion dirhams.
The development combines container facilities with industrial, logistics and energy infrastructure. It will also include terminals for hydrocarbons, liquefied natural gas, dry bulk and general cargo.
The energy facilities include a storage zone with potential capacity of four million cubic metres. The planned LNG terminal will be capable of handling up to five billion cubic metres annually.
Nador West Med’s industrial zone is already operational, with one factory in operation and three others under construction. The complex is expected to create 14,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs in the short term.
New transport infrastructure will support the port development. This includes the Selouane–Nador West Med railway connection, the Guercif–Nador West Med motorway and improvements to the surrounding road network.
