Logistics collaboration between Spain and Morocco increases strategically
Boluda Corporación Marítima and Marsa Maroc have signed a strategic collaboration alliance whereby its subsidiary Marsa Maroc International Logístics (MMIL) will hold 45% of the share capital of Boluda Maritime Terminals (BMT) in a deal worth €80 million.
Boluda, which also has a stake in MSC, states in a press release that it will continue to lead the management of the business, ensuring the continuity and stability of operations, as well as decision-making. For its part, Marsa Maroc will contribute its experience and generate commercial synergies to strengthen the alliance and boost regional growth.
Sources close to the companies assure that the transaction is of a business and commercial nature in the interests of both companies, above and beyond political considerations, although the transaction is being closed just a few days after the High-Level Meeting held in Madrid, where the governments of Spain and Morocco consolidated and promoted bilateral relations in all sectors in a joint declaration that represents a benchmark for the future.
The strategic alliance between Marsa Maroc and Boluda Corporación Marítima opens the door to significant synergies by combining their complementary capabilities and strengths in port terminal management. Both groups are clearly aligned strategically, driven by a shared ambition to strengthen their position in the Morocco-Spain corridor, a highly important maritime axis connecting the two sides of the strait.
This alliance represents a key milestone for BMT and Marsa Maroc, strengthening their presence on both sides of the strait and reaffirming their regional positioning, operating jointly in a total of 34 terminals in 20 ports spread across the Peninsula, the Canary Islands, and Africa, taking a significant step forward in their expansion process.
Boluda Corporación Marítima
Boluda Maritime Terminals provides comprehensive port management and logistics services through nine maritime terminals located in strategic locations throughout Spain: Las Palmas, La Palma, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Seville, Vilagarcía, Cádiz (Concasa), and Santander.
In 2024, its facilities handled more than 1 million TEUs, reinforcing its strategic role in freight traffic between the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands.
From these terminals, it offers its customers eleven shipping lines through its shipping company, Boluda Lines, connecting the Iberian Peninsula with the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, northern Europe, Italy, the west coast of Africa, and Cape Verde, ensuring efficient logistics coverage with international reach.
Boluda Corporación Marítima is currently one of the world's leading companies in the provision of global maritime services, with a presence on five continents. Its activity comprises two main areas of operation, Boluda Shipping and Boluda Towage, from which it offers a comprehensive service to its customers.
Its activity covers the different areas that make up the maritime sector, with a comprehensive service for its customers. It has two divisions: Boluda Towage (port, offshore, and maritime rescue towing services) and Boluda Shipping (shipping, shipping agency, land transport by road and rail, logistics, port terminal management, freight forwarding, and storage).
Marsa Maroc
Marsa Maroc is also a partner in the port of Tanger Med and operates two terminals in the port of Nador West Med, with a capacity to handle 9 million TEUs, of which 7 million will be transshipments.
Marsa Maroc is Africa's leading port operator, managing 25 terminals in eleven ports and handling more than 60 million tons of cargo annually. With its “Marsa 2030” strategic plan in full swing, the company is reaffirming its position as a leading operator, capable of carrying out large-scale projects alongside top-tier international partners, thus consolidating its leadership in the global logistics chain.
Marsa Maroc International Logistics (MMIL) is a subsidiary of Marsa Maroc responsible for managing the group's international holdings and supporting its development. MMIL oversees the identification, evaluation, and monitoring of Marsa Maroc's projects and investments, contributing to the strengthening of the group's international presence and the achievement of its strategic objectives.
Business commercial operation
According to Canarias7, Silvia Fernández Díaz, the €80 million operation came as a surprise to the port community and generated all kinds of interpretations on both sides of the Atlantic, especially given the political moment in which it took place following the recent high-level meeting (RAN) between Spain and Morocco, the Spanish government's harmony with its neighbor, and the recent UN resolution on the Sahara, which has strengthened the Alawite kingdom on the international stage.
However, various sources consulted advocate leaving politics aside and analyzing this operation from an economic point of view and through the prism of two companies seeking synergies and strengthening their regionalpositioning, on the one hand in the Morocco-Spain corridor, and on the other in the peninsula, Canary Islands, and Africa axis. "Boluda's objective in this operation is to be able to open terminals in Africa. This alliance will enable it to enter the market with a local partner," say sources close to the operation, who also make it clear that Boluda will retain the bulk of BMT's capital and therefore control with 55%.
Silvia Fernández Díaz in Canarias7 points out that this operation is similar to the one carried out with the shipping company MSC, to which it sold 49% of its tugboat subsidiary Boluda Towage a few months ago, consolidating its position in the sector. "This is a smart move, as it allows it to enter Morocco without losing traffic in the islands. On the contrary, its objective is to attract new traffic," these sources point out. In addition, the operation allows it to raise cash.
Impact on the Canary Islands
This operation also benefits the Canary Islands company Boluda&Suárez General Cargo (B&S Cargo), which handles all logistics, including storage and distribution of non-containerized cargo moving through Boluda's terminals.
Information from Silvia Fernández Díaz in Canarias7 indicates that B&S Cargo is fulfilling one of the objectives for which it was created with this alliance, namely its expansion at the national, European, and international levels. “Entering Morocco was always on the radar,” say sources close to the company.
This non-containerized cargo also includes all the materials and equipment for the installation of wind farms in the African country. In this rapidly developing industry on the neighboring continent, the Canary Islands' ports, with the Boluda and Marsa Maroc terminals, now have a “significant” role to play.
Morocco lacks deep-water docks, which the Canary Islands do have. In fact, there have already been cases of onshore wind turbine equipment being unloaded at ports on the islands from China and then transported to Morocco, its final destination. “The large unloading is done in the Canary Islands because it comes in a deep-draft ship and is then gradually taken to Moroccan ports in smaller ships,” these sources indicate.