Moroccan Government News

The Moroccan government has agreed to sell a 35% stake in terminal operator Marsa Maroc to Groupe Tanger Med, raising 5.48 billion dirhams ($610 mln) for state coffers, Marsa Maroc said on Tuesday.The government will retain 25% of the capital and voting rights in Marsa Maroc, a Casablanca-listed company that manages terminals at 9 Moroccan ports, the statement said, without providing further details.Tanger Med manages a container and passenger port as well as 2000 hectares dedicated to industry and logistics linked to the port.Tanger Med port, the main export hub for Morocco's automotive indus

The Moroccan government raised 1.94 billion dirhams ($197 million) by selling a 40 percent stake in state-owned port operator Marsa Maroc in the country's first initial public offering this year, traders said on Monday. Marsa Maroc was established in 2006 and manages terminals at nine Moroccan ports and provides logistic services. The port operator has said it is seeking funds for expansion as it plans to bid for two other terminals at Casablanca Port and is looking for opportunities elsewhere in North and West Africa. The offering was the first ever for a privatisation and could help to revive Casablanca's stock market, which has suffered from the knock-on effects of the euro zone debt crisis and a lack of foreign investors.

Qatar Petroleum has reached an agreement with Chevron Morocco Exploration Ltd., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, to acquire a 30% participating interest from Chevron’s 75% share in three deep-water offshore leases in the Kingdom of Morocco. ​Under the agreement, which was approved by the Moroccan government, Qatar Petroleum will acquire the 30% interest in the deep-water leases, while Chevron will retain a 45% interest and remains the operator and Morocco's Office National Des Hydrocarbures Et Des Mines will continue to have a 25% interest. The three offshore areas are Cap Rhir Deep, Cap Cantin Deep and Cap Walidia Deep. “It is no coincidence that Qatar Petroleum’s international presence is now extended to Morocco, a country which Qatar enjoys special relations with,” he added.

A pair of newly-built workboats, 26' mooring boats Chbika and Naila, were built to operate in Tangier, Morocco, but were unable to maneuver as required, having particular difficulty running at slow speeds with their original transmissions and ended up failing sea trials. The owner refused delivery of the vessels and told the builder to correct the problem. Unsuccessful after numerous modifications, the propulsion engineer contacted Twin Disc distributor Esco Transmissions. Franck Benoit…

Fastnet, the UK and Irish listed E&P company focussed on near term exploration and appraisal acreage in Morocco and the Celtic Sea, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Pathfinder Hydrocarbon Ventures Limited (Pathfinder) has entered into an amended exclusive option agreement with Oil and Gas Investments Funds (OGIF) (the "Option Agreement"), in relation to eight Exploration Permits comprising the Tendrara Lakbir Petroleum Agreement (the Tendrara Licence) onshore Morocco. Following substantive negotiations with its partner OGIF, Fastnet has secured improved commercial terms from those previously announced on 29 May 2013. ·     The deadline to drill the first well has been extended from 30 September 2014 to 21 April 2015.

ITF applaud release of Mohamed Chamchati, general secretary of the Moroccan merchant seafarers’ union. Like his colleague Said Elhairech, who was freed in October, Chamchati had been arrested in June on clearly mistaken charges linked to the cessation of operations of the Comarit-Comanav company. Welcoming the release ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: “We are gratified to see that the judicial authorities have finally come to their senses and realised that planning trade union action in defence of members’ jobs is no threat to the security of Morocco. We were very pleased that Said Elhairech was released just after our maritime meetings in Casablanca and was able to join our executive in Copenhagen…

Mohamed Chamchati, general secretary of the Moroccan merchant seafarers’ union, has been released after June 2012 detention. Like his colleague Said Elhairech, who was freed in October, Chamchati had been arrested in June on clearly mistaken charges linked to the cessation of operations of the Comarit-Comanav company. Yesterday he and others were released without charge. Welcoming the release ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: “We are gratified to see that the judicial authorities have finally come to their senses and realised that planning trade union action in defence of members’ jobs is no threat to the security of Morocco.

The ITF (International Transport Workers Federation) gives a voice to a new generation at a new style 'Maritime Round Table' (MRT) conference in Morocco. The MRT, is a groundbreaking three day activists’ forum being held 25 - 27, September 2012 to build links between dockers’ and seafarers’ unions and help shape the future of the ITF’s campaigning on flags of convenience. Alongside the over 200 activists and future union leaders from 50 countries attending there will be a host of virtual participants who can join the debates via the internet and live online reporting of the event at www.dockers-seafarers.org/event/maritime-roundtable. A new website – www.dockers-seafarers.org – has been created to support the event and build on its achievements.

Over 100 Moroccan seafarers on four vessels are facing shortages of food, fuel and pay in the port of Algeciras, Spain, following a drastic reduction of operations by Morocco’s Comarit/Comanav Ferry company that has led to the laying up of 11 ships in Spanish, French and Moroccan ports. The company is known to be still functioning short of bankruptcy. Some 1800 ship and shore staff are affected. The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation), working with Morocco’s Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), is trying to help four crews stranded in Algeciras, who are now described as having reached their limits. During inspections of the four vessels there (the Moroccan-flagged Ibn Batuta…

According to reports, Moroccan government and public institutions Monday sold their stake in the state-run maritime transport company Comanov to French firm CMA-CGM for $269m. The sell-off, part of a privatization plan, will see Comanov, set up in 1946, fall into the hands of France's largest container shipping company. Source: Middle East Times