The East Terminal at Nador West Med is ready to receive commercial ships, its operator says. West Med Container Terminal (WMCT), a joint venture between Marsa Maroc and Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), completed a series of tests before declaring the terminal ready.
The tests involved a real vessel call and checked the terminal’s equipment, systems and day-to-day operations.
The work was completed ahead of the original schedule. It included finishing construction work, installing equipment, setting up operating systems and training local staff.
The terminal can handle some of the world’s largest container ships. It has a 1,520-metre quay and a depth of 18 metres.
The East Terminal covers 70 hectares and is planned to handle 3.5 million containers a year when both phases are complete. The first phase has 720 metres of quay. The second will add another 800 metres.
A separate West Terminal will add another 1.8 million containers of annual capacity. Marsa Maroc and CMA CGM are developing the project through a joint venture. It will have 900 metres of quay.
The full port is expected to handle between 5 million and 5.5 million containers a year once all planned facilities are completed.
Nizar Baraka, the equipment and water minister, said: “The Nador West Med port is ready, and its operation is scheduled… We have signed conventions with large companies, notably CMA CGM, to guarantee 3 million containers per year.”
The port is designed to serve container traffic between Europe, Africa and other global markets. It will work alongside the Tanger Med port complex.
Plans also include an industrial zone around Nador West Med. An initial 800-hectare free zone is expected to grow to about 5,000 hectares.
Work is also continuing on the Guercif-Nador expressway. The road will connect the port to the national motorway network.
Nador West Med is part of a wider plan to expand port capacity on both the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Another major project, Dakhla Atlantique, is planned on the Atlantic coast.
