Marrakech — Morocco is preparing to commission two major deepwater ports as part of a wider national strategy to expand maritime infrastructure and strengthen its position as a regional trade hub. Equipment and Water Minister Nizar Baraka said the first facility, Nador West Med, will begin operations in the second half of 2026, while the second port in Dakhla is expected to open in 2028. This update was highlighted in coverage by Reuters.
Nador West Med is designed to become a new industrial gateway on the Mediterranean, offering eight hundred hectares dedicated to industrial activity with plans to expand that footprint to five thousand hectares. This would exceed the industrial zones surrounding the country’s flagship port Tanger Med. Sources in maritime industry reporting have explained that the port will also host Morocco’s first liquefied natural gas terminal, built around a floating storage and regasification unit that will feed a pipeline to key industrial regions in the northwest.
The Dakhla port on the Atlantic coast will be Morocco’s deepest port with a depth of twenty-three metres that can accommodate heavy industry vessels and bulk carriers transporting minerals and agricultural goods. Industry reports have noted that the surrounding developments will include one thousand six hundred hectares for industrial operations and more than five thousand hectares of farmland irrigated with desalinated water, marking a major integrated development for trade, production and agriculture.
Both ports are expected to play a central role in Morocco’s long-term energy and industrial strategy with capacity reserved for future green hydrogen export infrastructure. Analysts believe the projects will deepen Morocco’s maritime competitiveness, attract new investment and provide landlocked Sahel countries with efficient access to global markets.
