Morocco's Tangier-Med ranks 23rd place among world's largest ports

Morocco’s Tangier-Med port complex, with more than 7.1 million TEU containers handled in 2021, gained a place as one of the largest ports in the world, consolidating its position as a major port in Africa and the Mediterranean.

The report, titled “The State of Port World in 2021” published by The Merchant Navy Journal on February 23, placed Tanger-Med at 23rd place globally.

The Tangier Med port continues its meteoric rise to the top of the world’s largest ports.

According to a ranking established by Alphaliner, a platform that specializes in maritime trade, the Tangier port complex has been the biggest port in Africa for the last five years and the largest in the Mediterranean for two years.

Due to its geographical position, the Moroccan port is widely considered to be the most important link between Africa and Europe.

The international hub grew from 4,80 million TEU in 2019 to 5,77 million TEU in 2020, a staggering 20,2% increase.

Even with a reduction in revenue caused by COVID-19, the Moroccan Port has been able to maintain its financial indicators and maintain its global alliances across continents as a result of the pandemic, local media reports.

In 2018, Tanger Med was ranked 48th globally but is now on its way to integrating the top 20 of the world’s largest container ports. The port activity program began 14 years ago in 2007, a feat that few observers believed was possible.

A number of record-setting performances have been set by the port of Tangier for several years now. The Tanger Med port complex handled 7,173,870 TEU containers in 2021, a 24% increase over 2020.

Based on the 2021 port activity report, the TC4 and TC3 terminals contributed to port traffic records in 2019 and 2021, respectively.

As a result, 101,054,713 tons of cargo were handled at Tanger Med in 2021, a 25% increase from 2020. The Tanger Med port complex thus handles more than 50% of all the tonnage handled by Moroccan ports globally, the report states.

“In the Mediterranean, the extremely rapid rise in power (+49% over the past two years) of Tanger Med is disconcerting. Queen of transshipment, with 7.17 MEVP, the first Moroccan gateway has dethroned, in the Strait of Gibraltar, its Spanish neighbor opposite, Valencia (5.61 MEVP, + 3.4%),” said the report.