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Tanger Med Port Authority: the International Port Community Systems Association’s newest member

TANGER MED PORT AUTHORITY

The International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) has announced another step in its remarkable growth – welcoming Morocco’s Tanger Med Port Authority (TMPA) as the association’s newest member.

Tanger Med is a global logistics gateway located on the Strait of Gibraltar and connected to 186 ports worldwide, with handling capacities of 9 million containers, exports of 1 million vehicles, transit of 7 million passengers and 700,000 trucks, on an annual basis.

Tanger Med is Africa’s number one port and one of the region’s major container transhipment hubs. The port complex handles containers, vehicles, ro-ro cargo, hydrocarbons and general cargo, as well as being a major ferry passenger facility.

Tanger Med’s terminal and port operations are run by leading terminal operators through concession contracts. The port is therefore a hub for major shipping lines including Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC, for world-leading terminal operators APM Terminals and Eurogate, and for international logistics specialists such as DHL, DB Schenker and XPO.

With Tanger Med 2, the port complex will further strengthen its position as a hub for global logistics flows and global trade.

The first Free Zone in Africa, Tanger Med also constitutes an industrial hub for more than 900 companies with a total annual export turnover in excess of €7,300 million in various sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, logistics, textile and trade. International manufacturers such as Renault, Siemens, Lear, Valeo, Furukawa and Hands Corporation have operations at the Tanger Med industrial hub.

Tanger Med Port Authority is responsible for the management and infrastructure development of the Tanger Med port complex, including the construction and maintenance of breakwaters, dredging and berthing facilities. It is also responsible for the coordination of the port community and ensuring the reliability and performance of services provided.

As part of its functions, TMPA operates its own Port Community System (PCS), which provides paperless, centralised transactions, integrated with Customs, for imports, exports and freight management.

The main current operational Tanger Med PCS modules are:

  • -Port call management: digital (paperless) process; call priority
  • -Digitalisation (paperless) of freight transit
  • -Flow management: gate in and gate out
  • -e-payments
  • -Track and trace
  • -Reservation of transport

Ridouan Boulaich, Digital and IT Director at Tanger Med, said: “Tanger Med is a world-class port with excellence in connectivity – we provide a highly efficient gateway to and from Morocco, with our unique and strategic location on the Mediterranean providing easy access to markets. We also manage some Free Zones in Morocco and are developing ‘logistics corridors’ between these and the port.”

Tanger Med has a strategic goal to use an efficient centralised Port Community System (Tanger Med Portal). “Tanger Med, a global logistics hub, maintain international standards including in its PCS to ensure meeting of our maritime, logistics, transportation, industry partners. Tanger Med is fully committed to a continuous process of enhancing its services offering and particularly in line with digitization and PCS requirements.” Said Mr Ridouan BOULAICH, Digital and IT Director

Joining IPCSA is an important step forward for TMPA, he said. “We will gain experience and knowledge in the field of Port Community Systems, Single Windows and trade facilitation. We are also interested in following up the latest standards and technologies in the maritime domain, with a view to incorporating these in the development of our own platforms.

“At the same time, we are capitalising on our knowhow in digitalisation and we want to share our own experience with IPCSA members. We expect to contribute to IPCSA’s working groups and committees, especially those dealing with trade facilitation and productivity improvement topics, as well as blockchain and other initiatives.”

TMPA’s Port Community System has been designed to improve the administrative and operational efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of the whole Tanger Med port complex, said Ridouan Boulaich. “We have set ourselves the challenge of expanding our PCS to provide services across the port logistics sector and beyond. This includes expanding the reach of our platform beyond the geographical scope of the port – into areas such as the automotive and agricultural industries, and to provide links between the port and the Free Zones.”

Richard Morton, Secretary General of IPCSA, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tanger Med Port Authority, our seventh African member, to the IPCSA family. Every new member brings their own unique knowledge and experience to IPCSA, and we are proud of our openness and willingness to share experiences, learning from each other and working together to improve cargo and information flows globally.

“IPCSA was founded in 2011; we have expanded to the point where we have well over 40 members from around the world, and a strong relationship with a number of international bodies, including the IMO, WCO and UN/CEFACT.”