Spanish Ports Unite Against “Common Enemy” Tanger Med After Maersk’s Decision

The Danish shipping company Maersk’s decision to bypass the port of Algeciras in favor of Tanger Med to connect India with the United States has caused panic among Andalusian ports. They view this move as a threat that could have a snowball effect on their operations.

A week ago, Maersk, one of the world’s leading shipping companies, announced its decision to avoid Algeciras in favor of Tanger Med for its route connecting India to the Atlantic coast of the United States. This new maritime route, according to the Danish group, is expected to “improve product exchanges between India and North America.” In addition to Morocco, it will pass through the United Arab Emirates and Oman but will not touch any European ports.

This decision has had a bombshell effect in Spain, particularly in Andalusia. The news dominated discussions at the second edition of the forum “The Andalusian Economy from Its Ports.” Gerardo Landaluce, president of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (Cadiz), called for the involvement of both central and regional administrations to give a “definitive boost” to projects that modernize ports and improve their rail and road connectivity, as reported by El Debate.

“We have a Ferrari on the sea side, but on land, we have a 600, if not a Simca 1000,” Landaluce compared, hoping for an alliance “of the whole network” to compete with the port of Tanger Med. Instead of acting individually, the seven Andalusian ports now want to develop coordinated action plans, fearing that Maersk’s decision could trigger a domino effect with other shipping companies.

“We are not competing against each other; we are collaborating because our competitors are to the north of Morocco,” emphasized Teófila Martínez, president of the Port of Cadiz.

Rosario Soto, president of the Port Authority of Almería, host of the event, highlighted the challenge of transforming Almería’s port over the next three years with an investment of 100 million euros to boost freight and passenger traffic.

Essentially, this is about being able to compete with the increasingly powerful Moroccan port. In just a few years, Tanger Med has positioned itself as the leading port in the Mediterranean and the third largest in the world, thanks to world-class infrastructure and a privileged geographical location.

Competition with Northern ports is becoming increasingly difficult for Spanish ports due to Europe’s decarbonization plan, which aims to impose extra taxes on polluting ships. These ships might then flee to Morocco, as Maersk has just done. Industry experts believe that by opting for Tanger Med as a stopover, Maersk is trying to avoid costs associated with the new European Union emissions trading system (EU ETS).

About محمد الفاسي