Articles/Operator's read

CMA CGM takes a 49% stake in Morocco's Nador West Med terminal

Will CMA CGM ships get a fixed weekly berth at Nador when it opens in 2027?

Neither company has published what the stake gives CMA CGM's ships at the berth, but the deal does settle who sits on the quay next door.

Portside Report·21 Oct 2026·2 min

Executive summary

CMA CGM now owns 49% of the company that will run the West container terminal at Nador West Med in Morocco. Marsa Maroc keeps control and the berthing terms are unpublished, but CMA CGM's terminal is separate from MSC's next door. A fixed Nador call in a CMA CGM schedule will show what the stake bought.

CMA Terminals, the port arm of French carrier CMA CGM, has completed its purchase of 49% of Nador Container Terminal. That company holds the concession for the West container terminal at Nador West Med, a new transshipment port on Morocco's Mediterranean coast less than 250 miles from the Strait of Gibraltar. Marsa Maroc, Morocco's national port operator, keeps 51% of the shares and the votes. The terminal opens in 2027, and the deal does not say how much priority CMA CGM's ships will get at its berth.

So what does 49% give CMA CGM's ships? Nothing has been published. The share register and the berthing window are separate documents. Equity normally buys board seats and a say on investment. A fixed weekly window comes from the service agreement between the terminal and the carrier, and none has been released.

What the closing does settle is who works the quay next door. The East terminal at Nador West Med has the same majority owner. Marsa Maroc holds 50% plus one share there, and MSC's Terminal Investment Limited holds the rest. CMA CGM's 2024 framework agreement had put it in half of that East terminal. Now the two carriers each have their own terminal.

That changes how berth priority gets decided. When two rival carriers share one quay, priority gets negotiated every day. At Nador each carrier has its own terminal under the same majority owner, so priority becomes a contract question. That is the sensible way round.

How much priority CMA CGM needs then depends on the West terminal's quay. It has 900 metres of container quay with 18 metres of water alongside. That length takes two of the largest container ships at once. The number of cranes on the quay in 2027 decides how long each call holds the berth. Eight ship-to-shore cranes are planned once the terminal is fully built.

Watch for the first CMA CGM service that lists Nador West Med in its rotation on a fixed day. A fixed day in a published proforma is the berth window, whatever the share register says.