Morocco is expanding its trade routes to European market in a bid to enable its exportations of goods and agricultural produce more maritime corridors and the possibility to avoid crossing Spanish overland trade routes.
Dutch shipping company WEC Lines is preparing to launch an enhanced weekly container service, connecting the port of Nador to the Portuguese port of Setúbal and, from there, to a vast network of ports in northwestern Europe.
The new service will be operated by two vessels with a capacity of 868 TEU each, on a 14-day rotation, giving Moroccan exporters in northeastern region new maritime connections to several Northern European ports.
The crossing between Nador and Setúbal will take around three days. From Portugal, containers will be transshipped onto services to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Liverpool, Dublin and several other ports served by WEC Lines.
The Dutch company said it will also provide exporters 40- and 45-foot refrigerated containers for frozen and perishable goods, including agricultural and food exports. The company presents short-sea shipping as an alternative to long-haul road transport to Northern Europe.
The new service comes just months before the planned start of operations at Nador West Med, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The new port complex is due to have an initial annual capacity of 5 million containers and 35 million tons of liquid and dry bulk cargo. Its container terminals are expected to come online progressively.
Nador will therefore get enhanced maritime connections to Northern Europe even before the new port complex begins its gradual entry into service.
