By Solomon Ekanem
Morocco has cancelled the bidding process to select a private operator for its new Casablanca shipyard, about 18 months after reopening the competition for a 30-year concession to run the $260 million facility.
The decision marks a major shift for a project that Morocco had sought to develop with international private-sector expertise as part of its ambition to become a major maritime hub in Africa.
Business Insider Africa reported in April 2025 that Morocco’s state-run National Ports Agency (ANP) had opened international bidding for an experienced private operator to develop, equip, operate and maintain the shipyard under a 30-year concession.
At the time, Morocco was seeking to replicate the industrial success of its automotive sector by bringing in a global operator capable of transforming the Casablanca facility into a major regional ship-repair and shipbuilding centre.
The project has now taken a different direction.
The ANP cancelled the concession process after its board reviewed the results of the evaluation of the bids and adopted what Moroccan business publication Médias24 described as “new strategic orientations.”
The cancelled tender had attracted international shipbuilding and maritime groups. Three finalists remained before the cancellation: a consortium involving Moroccan construction company Somagec, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Turkey’s Kuzey Star Shipyard; a consortium led by Morocco’s Radi Holding alongside Spain’s Marina Meridional and China’s Ningbo Xinle Shipbuilding Group; and Italy’s San Giorgio del Porto.
The earlier bidding process had been launched on April 7, 2025, when the ANP sought a specialist operator for the facility. The agency’s original tender called for the concessionaire to develop, equip, operate and maintain the shipyard for 30 years.
Sources familiar with the decision said the cancellation was not related to the quality of the bids or the three companies that remained in the final stage.
“This cancellation has nothing to do with the candidates or their offers,” one source told Médias24. The sources said the decision was instead linked to “certain considerations, notably related to national sovereignty.”
The sources added that the ANP board had determined that “another strategic orientation” should be adopted and that work had already begun in that direction.
The new approach is also intended to strengthen Morocco’s domestic maritime-industrial ecosystem and support the country’s longer-term ambition of developing a strong and competitive national merchant fleet.
The shift follows Morocco’s wider push to build domestic industrial capabilities rather than rely heavily on foreign operators for strategically important infrastructure.
The Casablanca shipyard is estimated to have required an overall investment of about 2.6 billion dirhams, or roughly $260 million. Despite the investment, the facility is not yet operational.
The facility includes a large dry dock and ship-lifting infrastructure designed to handle commercial, military and fishing vessels, giving Morocco the ability to carry out major vessel repairs domestically rather than sending ships to facilities abroad.
The latest decision leaves the future operating model unresolved, but the direction is becoming clearer: Morocco wants the shipyard to serve not only as a commercial maritime facility but also as part of a broader national industrial strategy.
Business Insider Africa