Around 2.8 million passengers, including 2 million Moroccan expatriates, and 662,000 cars crossed Moroccan ports in both directions between June 5 and September 5 as part of the «Marhaba 2024» operation. In a press release issued on Monday, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics reported a 5.5% increase in passengers, a 17% rise in expatriates, and a 9.5% growth in vehicles compared to the same period last year. For the Marhaba operation's maritime transport offer, the Ministry mobilized 29 ships, providing 535 weekly trips with a transport capacity of 500,000 passengers and 130,000 cars per week. The Ministry also conducted technical inspections of all ships at the start of the operation to ensure compliance with international safety standards and monitored the quality of onboard services. The distribution of traffic by port showed a strong concentration at Tanger-Med, which handled 1.62 million passengers and 427,000 cars (57% of overall traffic), followed by Tanger-Ville (23%), Nador (19%), and Al Hoceima (1%). Peaks in inbound traffic were recorded on August 3-4, with around 80,000 passengers and 20,000 cars. For outbound traffic, the last ten days of August were particularly busy, with over 460,000 passengers and 103,000 cars crossing from Morocco to the other side of the Mediterranean. The Ministry noted that the introduction of prior booking with fixed dates and times helped manage traffic flow, especially on the heavily used «Tanger Med – Algeciras» and «Tanger Ville – Tarifa» routes.
