Despite pandemic, Tanger Med Port hits new record

Tanger Med was ranked as the best performing African Port in 2020 despite the challenges imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic on port traffic, UNCTAD said.

The port widened the gap with other competitors in Africa in terms of connectivity with 137 direct links, UNCTAD said in a report.

Globally, the port of Shanghai came first with 288 links followed by South Korea’s Busan with 274 links, Belgium’s Anvers (268) and Rotterdam (264).

Tanger Med port handled 4.8 million containers in 2019 posting a 38% increase compared to a year earlier.

The port, the largest in Africa and the Mediterranean in terms of container capacity, has still room for expansion as its capacity was boosted to 9 million containers with the launch of Tanger Med 2 last summer.

The northern Moroccan port, which started receiving container ships in 2007, has been the largest in Africa since 2018 after exceeding 3.5 million containers.