Morocco has opened a new terminal at its Tanger Med port, which reported a volume of 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) last year.

The Tanger Med port 2 will have a total nominal capacity of about six million TEU, therefore expanding the total capacity of the entire Tanger Med complex to over nine million TEUs.

Nearly $1.6bn has been invested in Tanger Med 2 to expand is capacity, according to Reuters.

Construction work on Tanger Med 2 started in May 2010. It included 4.8km of breakwaters and development of a basin covering an area of 160ha, as well as 160ha of land completely reclaimed from the sea.

The new Tanger Med 2 will feature two terminals that will be managed by Marsa Morocco and APM Terminals.

According to media sources, APM Terminals chief executive officer Morten Engelstoft said: “APM Terminals has a long-term relationship with Morocco and we are proud to be operating the second container terminal in the Tanger Med port complex.”

Seven large vessels can be stowed at the port’s dockside. It has a total of 2.8km of container piers, with depths of 18m.

Mediterranean port director Rachid Houari told Reuters: “I hope we will add one million TEU of containers every year.”

The port Tanger Med I, which has two container terminals with a total rated capacity of three million TEUs, is a key container transhipment hub in the west of the Mediterranean.