A press communication by Marsa Maroc, Morocco's leading port operator, confirmed the 25-year lease contract signed between the corporation and Nador West Med (NWM) for the Nador West Med Eastern Container Terminal.

The new terminal, scheduled to be fully operational in 2027, will feature 1,520 meters of quay, a depth of 18 meters, and 70 hectares of yard space. On completion, NWM Eastern Container Terminal will offer a total capacity of 3,4 million TEU and feature 15 ship-to-shore cranes and 45 gantry cranes.

Located west of the Mediterranean Sea, between Tangier Med, Morocco, and Oran, Algeria, the new terminal will compete with other facilities in the area, such as Valencia and Algeciras.

The new lease agreement allows Marsa Maroc to take a leading role in the Moroccan and international markets.

In the press release, the company said the 200 million Euro investment in the terminal "strengthens its position in the Mediterranean transship segment," allowing it to consolidate its position definitively in the Moroccan national port sector.

Since January 2021, Marsa Maroc has been in the transhipment market, operating Tangier Med's Container Terminal 3 (CT3) together with Hapag-Lloyd, Eurogate GmbH, and Contiship Italia. CT3 has increased its total capacity to 1.5 million TEU within three years.

The new project in Nador will bring the company's total container-handling capacity to around 6.5 million TEU, with almost 5 million TEU dedicated to transhipment.