A recent paper published by Spanish news outlet La Vanguardia explores the positive implications of the Red Sea crisis for Morocco, noting that the Kingdom stands as one of the beneficiaries of this crisis.
The security crisis in the Red Sea has nearly half-halving traffic through the Suez Canal, dropping by 45%, as many companies are choosing to redirect their ships through the Cape of Good Hope route due to Houthi attacks. This has led to increasing concern among companies, with costs have risen 21%, while freight rates have increased by 150%.
“Shipping companies are seeking cheap, efficient, and strategically located ports to serve as logistics hubs on the new route. And Morocco has them: Casablanca and, especially, Tangier Med on the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar,” noted La Vanguardia.
Shipping routes in the eastern Mediterranean are now considered too far due to the current circumstances, and “the commercial traffic that is currently being redirected across Africa is betting on Moroccan ports, which are less expensive.”
Tangier Med port, a strategic Moroccan investment, has emerged as the leading port due to the Red Sea crisis, according to La Vanguardia, citing industry sources.
The Moroccan port has become the leading Mediterranean port in container traffic, surpassing Algeciras, Valencia, and Barcelona by the end of 2023.
This success can be attributed to its “strategic location at the Strait of Gibraltar, its high-capacity facilities, lower labor costs, and fewer environmental expenses.” These factors, according to the same paper, contribute to more competitive rates compared to the neighboring port of Algeciras.
“Tangier Med is a rising hub,” says the same source, adding that it is an ideal port for transshipment of goods to northern Europe and ports in the central and eastern Mediterranean, which “have now faded from the map.”
The paper said that Morocco’s strategic plan, which also includes the construction of another major commercial port in Nador, aims to create “two major areas of economic activity on Morocco territory. This strategy is now benefiting from the Red Sea crisis, the duration of which is unpredictable.”
The partial strangulation of the Suez route has had a substantial impact on the ports in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Genoa, Gioia Tauro, Malta, Trieste, and Piraeus appear distant compared to the revalued Strait of Gibraltar.
Morocco’s increasing logistical weight grants it political power, creating a paradoxical situation, says the paper.
The blockade in Bab el Mandeb advantages the modern port of Tangier, but the war in Gaza provides obstacles in publicly demonstrating Morocco’s positive relations with Israel, a significant supplier of weapons and security systems to the Kingdom.
According to shipping analysts, 16 extra grain-loaded ships have been diverted from the Suez Canal, boosting total grain shipments that have changed course to about 3.9 million tons, up from three million tons the previous week, due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
The ongoing war in the Red Sea is causing international ships to consider heading towards Morocco from the Cape of Good Hope, which is the current alternative route, while other ships come to the kingdom to transport goods across the Mediterranean Sea, according to Reuters, quoting President of Marseille Port Christophe Castaner.
Tangier, a Mediterranean port, is poised to double its container volume despite anticipated pressure from the Red Sea conflict. The port received 35 ships last Thursday and was waiting for 63 more then.
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