Morocco eyes entry into shipbuilding in new tender: Morocco’s state-run National Ports Agency (ANP) has launched a tender looking for companies to develop, equip, and operate the Casablanca shipyard for a 30-year period, ANP communications director Abdellatif Lhouaoui told Bloomberg on Friday. Interested companies are encouraged to include shipbuilding components in their proposals, Lhouaoui said. The deadline for the bid has not been disclosed.

The rationales: Morocco hopes the project could help it jumpstart a local shipbuilding industry, replicating its success in becoming the African continent’s largest auto exporter. The shipyard is set to clinch some of the regional demand for ship maintenance and repair services, especially from “the saturated shipyards in southern Europe,” Lhouaoui told Bloomberg. The project will also provide Moroccan ships with services locally that they would otherwise get abroad, helping the country save hard currency, Lhouaoui added.

About the shipyard: Situated on the Port of Casablanca, the 52-acre shipyard will offer several new facilities, including three fitting-out quays, a dry dock to handle 22 units per year, a dockside crane with a 450-tonne lifting capacity, and six medium-sized boats on the lifting platform with a 5k-tonne capacity, according to ANP’s website. The shipyard — which cost Morocco USD 300 mn to build — is set to be the country’s first to serve large-scale commercial, military, and fishing vessels, Bloomberg reported.

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