Two boats collided on Friday morning at Tangier Med Port in north Morocco, with two crew members still missing.
A boat from Danish company Svitzer’s collided with a ferry belonging to shipping company FRS Iberia, the port’s authorities said on Friday.
The port’s authorities reported that the incident took place “today at 02:49 a.m” when “a boat belonging to the company Svitzer operating in the port Tangier Med collided with the ferry Kattegat of the shipping company FRS Iberia.”
The collision occurred “1 kilometer from the port Tangier Med,” according to a statement from the Harbour Master’s Office, noting that “the boat capsized and then sank.”
The statement said that two members of the crew are missing. The port’s authorities deployed all its rescue means right after the incident, with the Royal Navy lining up to assist the port’s efforts by helicopter.
There are ongoing searches to locate the two missing crew members, the statement concluded.
Tangier Med port is a key trade hub in Africa and the Mediterranean.
A recent study from marine data company Alphaliner ranked Morocco’s port as the best in Africa in terms of performance and capacity. It ranked 23rd in the world according to the same study.
The amount of goods that passed through Tangier Med increased by 20,2% in 2020, from 4,80 million Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2019 to 5,77 million TEU in 2020.
Morocco’s international gateway alone processed more than half of the country’s total port exports and imports in 2021, moving 101 million tonnes of cargo, up 25% from 2020.
Tangier Med is cementing its strategic position as a leading port in Africa and the Mediterranean due to its outstanding performances.
