PSA consortium to win Tangier terminal
A PSA-led consortium is set to get the licence to operate a major container terminal in Morocco that will be the port operator's African beach head.
'The PSA-SNI-MM consortium has been selected as preferred bidder for the common-user terminal at the Port of Tangier Med in Morocco,' a PSA spokesman said yesterday without giving further details. 'We are working with Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA) on concluding the concession agreement.'
PSA has a 50 per cent stake in the consortium. Investment fund Societe Nationale d'Investissements - controlled by Morocco's royal family - holds 25 per cent. The remaining 25 per cent is held by Marsa Maroc, Morocco's state-owned maritime authority which handles most of the cargo at the country's ports.
Investment in the terminal, which will be able to handle two million 20 ft container equivalents (TEUs) a year, will reportedly be US$371.7 million.
The terminal is expected to be operating by end-2012 and comes with a 30-year contract.
The preferred bidder for another terminal that will handle three million TEUs a year is a consortium led by Danish shipping line AP Moller-Maersk with a 90 per cent stake. The other partners are APM Terminals and Morocco's Akwa Group. This terminal will be dedicated to Maersk ships.
There are two other terminals at the port. One, operated by APM Terminals Tangier, has been up and running since July last year. The other, operated by Eurogate Tangiers, is set to start next month for European shipping.
APM Terminals Tangier is a unit of AP Moller-Maersk. Eurogate Tangiers has MSC, CMA-CGM, Eurogate, Contship and Comanav as partners.
TMSA was particularly keen to have PSA as a terminal operator because of its Asian connections. It wants to be one of Africa's main ports and hopes that the PSA link will boost connectivity.
The Maersk group has said that it plans to make Tangier Africa's biggest port complex, with a target of eight million TEUs a year by 2013.
'The PSA-SNI-MM consortium has been selected as preferred bidder for the common-user terminal at the Port of Tangier Med in Morocco,' a PSA spokesman said yesterday without giving further details. 'We are working with Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA) on concluding the concession agreement.'
PSA has a 50 per cent stake in the consortium. Investment fund Societe Nationale d'Investissements - controlled by Morocco's royal family - holds 25 per cent. The remaining 25 per cent is held by Marsa Maroc, Morocco's state-owned maritime authority which handles most of the cargo at the country's ports.
Investment in the terminal, which will be able to handle two million 20 ft container equivalents (TEUs) a year, will reportedly be US$371.7 million.
The terminal is expected to be operating by end-2012 and comes with a 30-year contract.
The preferred bidder for another terminal that will handle three million TEUs a year is a consortium led by Danish shipping line AP Moller-Maersk with a 90 per cent stake. The other partners are APM Terminals and Morocco's Akwa Group. This terminal will be dedicated to Maersk ships.
There are two other terminals at the port. One, operated by APM Terminals Tangier, has been up and running since July last year. The other, operated by Eurogate Tangiers, is set to start next month for European shipping.
APM Terminals Tangier is a unit of AP Moller-Maersk. Eurogate Tangiers has MSC, CMA-CGM, Eurogate, Contship and Comanav as partners.
TMSA was particularly keen to have PSA as a terminal operator because of its Asian connections. It wants to be one of Africa's main ports and hopes that the PSA link will boost connectivity.
The Maersk group has said that it plans to make Tangier Africa's biggest port complex, with a target of eight million TEUs a year by 2013.