A CMA CGM Group joint venture with Marsa Maroc will invest $280 million in part of a new container terminal in Morocco.

The joint venture is owned 49% by CMA CGM and 51% by Marsa Maroc and will equip and operate for 25 years a 750-metre section of quay and 35 hectares of yard within the Nador West Med container port

The joint venture aims develop a capacity of 1.2 million teu and will be able to accommodate larger boxships with a 18-metre draught

Nador West Med container port is a greenfield development which will add millions of teu of transshipment capacity for the European and Mediterranean market. 

Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, said: "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. 

Morocco began construction, in 2016, of a new multipurpose harbour at the Bay of Betoya, about 120 nautical miles east of the Strait of Gibraltar and the government awarded in June the Moroccan terminal operator Marsa Maroc a 25-year, $200 million concession to develop and run Phase One of the port's container complex. 

CMA CGM Group owns a terminal in Casablanca and 40% of a terminal at Tanger Med. With La Méridionale, CMA CGM also operates a ferry service between Marseille and Tangier-Med.

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/cma-cgm-inks-jv-for-morocco-container-terminal