31 January 2024 (Lloyd's List) - TANGER Med is yet to feel any impact from the rerouting of cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, despite operating at near full capacity.
There has been an increase in transhipment in the Mediterranean, as carriers have been forced to restructure their networks due to the closure of the Suez Canal routing.
But despite some signs of congestion, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean, Tanger Med is seeing little direct impact.
“Besides the increase in freight rates and a delay in supply times, deviations via the Cape are not expected to have a significant impact on the organisation of maritime line networks and the volume of containers transported on the Asia-Europe route,” said Tanger Med spokesperson Meriem Fares.
“The current volume trend at Tanger Med and the analysis of services do not indicate a notable impact on the volumes of container traffic handled.”
She added that the rotations of stops on the Asia-Europe services had remained unchanged compared to the configuration before the deviation, with only a few minor adjustments.
“The main hubs of the Mediterranean have almost entirely preserved the Asia-Europe services that frequented them before December 2023,” Fares said.
“A deviation via the Cape could only impact some secondary ports if traffic transfers between those ports and West African ports were to occur. Carriers are increasing the speed of their ships and ensuring that they arrive within the designated fixed-day ETA slots at their destination ports.”
Tanger Med, the busiest port in the Mediterranean, set a new record in volumes last year, increasing its throughput by 13.4% to reach 8.6m teu.
The performance was attributed to the successful operations of terminals TC1 and TC4, managed by Maersk’s APM Terminals division, and the continuous development of terminal TC3, operated by the Tanger Alliance, a joint venture between Marsa Maroc, Eurogate, and Hapag-Lloyd.
APM Terminals opened the second phase of its MedPort Tangier development last December.
Tanger Med also reported record productivity levels in 2023, surpassing monthly peaks of 800,000 teu handled.
The volumes handled indicate that Tanger Med is now operating at 95% of its nominal capacity, a point reached four years ahead of targets.
But that means the port is already considering another expansion.
“With the recent commissioning of 800 metres of quay in Tanger Med, the port of Tanger Med is further consolidating its position as the leading container platform in the Mediterranean in terms of capacity,” Fares said.
“Regarding extensions, studies are underway to assess the opportunity and feasibility of such an extension.”
