Tangier Med moves 84 million tons until June amid the reorganization of routes through Suez
The Moroccan port complex increases cargo volume by 6% during the first half of 2026, while shipping companies modify their networks between Asia, Europe, and Africa and progressively regain transit through the Suez Canal
Tangier Med managed 84 million tons of cargo during the first half of 2026, 6% more than in the same period the previous year, according to quarterly indicators reported by Tanger Med Port Authority (TMPA) and published by the Autorité Marocaine du Marché des Capitaux (AMMC). Of that volume, 45 million tons corresponded to the second quarter. The financial information was published by the Moroccan market authority on August 28.
TMPA, responsible for managing Tangier Med 1, the Passenger and Ro-Ro port, and Tangier Med 2, closed June with an accumulated turnover of 2.479 billion dirhams, 8.6% higher than the figure recorded a year earlier. Between April and June, revenues reached 1.293 billion dirhams, compared to 1.162 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.2%.
The semiannual data extends the trend recorded during 2025. The Moroccan complex closed the previous year with 161 million tons of cargo, 13.3% more than in 2024, and 11,106,164 TEU, with an increase of 8.4% in container traffic. A year earlier, in 2024, it managed 10,241,392 TEU, 18.8% more than in 2023.
Part of the capacity increase recorded in recent years is concentrated in APM Terminals MedPort Tangier, located in Tangier Med 2. APM Terminals completed in December 2024 an expansion project developed over three years that added two million TEU of additional capacity. The facility currently has a nominal capacity for 5.2 million TEU annually and two kilometers of berthing line.
The evolution of traffic coincides with various changes in maritime networks used by the two ports in the Strait of Gibraltar. Ocean Network Express (ONE) launched the Mediterranean Africa Express Service (MAX) in July, a weekly connection between the Mediterranean and West Africa whose rotation links Algeciras, Tangier Med, Dakar, Tema, Lekki, and Abidjan before returning to Algeciras. The shipping company thus uses the ports of Algeciras and Tangier Med as connection points for this service with the rest of its international network.
CMA CGM also introduced a new connection this summer between northern Europe and West Africa. The Kora Express began with a Southampton-Vlissingen-Antwerp-Tangier Med-Algeciras-Tema-Lekki-Cotonou-Dakar rotation, operated with vessels of about 4,200 TEU nominal capacity. The French company explicitly designates Tangier Med and Algeciras as connection hubs for the service with its global network. At the same time, it reorganized Euraf 5 to operate from Tangier Med to Nouakchott, Kribi, Libreville, Pointe-Noire, and Luanda.
These movements are complemented by the evolution of cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd's Gemini and their progressive return to the Suez Canal. Maersk announced on August 10 that the AE19 service would cease navigating around the Cape of Good Hope to use the trans-Suez corridor. The new rotation includes Port Said and Tangier Med in the Mediterranean segment.
The process expanded in September. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced on the 14th that the AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2 services would also begin to transit through Suez, joining AE15 and AE19. The new rotations distribute the stops between both sides of the Strait: AE5 and AE12 include Algeciras, while AE11 incorporates Tangier Med and ME2 uses Algeciras heading north and Tangier Med on its subsequent route to Suez.
The return via the Red Sea also impacts MECL, a service operated exclusively by Maersk between India, the Middle East, and the east coast of the United States. The company announced in July its structural return to Suez and estimated an average reduction in transit time of seven days for westward journeys and 14 days eastward.
The reorganization of the networks also takes place while monitoring the effects of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme on maritime transport. The second report of the EU ETS Observatory of Port Authorities, published in July with data up to March 2026, indicates a reduction in connectivity of long-distance container services from EU ports compared to neighboring ports located outside the EU. The agency monitors this with indicators such as TEU-mile and has included in its second edition an analysis of the movements of the containers themselves.
Tangier Med, however, has a specific treatment within European regulation. The Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2297 of the Commission identifies it, along with East Port Said, as a "neighboring transshipment port for containers." This designation applies to those ports located outside the Union, within 300 nautical miles of a community port, with a transshipment rate exceeding 65% of their container traffic. The measure is part of the mechanism established to limit potential evasive calls aimed at reducing exposure to the EU ETS.
In parallel with the changes in maritime services, Hanseatic Global Terminals, a subsidiary of Hapag-Lloyd, announced on June 29 its intention to raise its stake in Tangier Med's TC3 terminal from 10% to 20%. The operation is subject to negotiation of binding agreements and the corresponding authorizations.
The resulting scenario keeps Algeciras and Tangier Med simultaneously within several of the networks that the main shipping companies are reorganizing in 2026. ONE utilizes both ports in the MAX, CMA CGM consecutively incorporates them in the Kora Express, and the new trans-Suez configuration of Gemini distributes the stops of the AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2 services between the two.
