Regional integration and maritime connectivity across the Maghreb seaport system

International audienceModels and empirical studies of port system evolution dominantly focus on land-based dynamics. Hence, it is traditionally recognized that such dynamics condition the evolution of ports and their relations as well as wider regional integration processes. The Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia), which is currently responsible for no less than one-third of all African port throughputs, offers a fertile ground to test the possibility for regional integration to occur through maritime linkages despite limited trade integration and land-based transport connectivity. Main results highlight the increase of trans-Maghreb maritime connectivity but this occurs mostly at the periphery of the system based on transit flows. Logistical integration versus trade integration is discussed in light of the recent evolution of Maghreb ports and of the region in general

L'insertion des villes portuaires maghrébines dans la circulation maritime mondiale : le cas des hydrocarbures

The international trade of the Maghreb as a whole is largely based on the exportation of fossil fuels and mining products. The concentration of flows by maritime transport urged the settlement of bulk cargo ports built close to urban coastal areas with a large demographic size. This study aims to situate those ports on the global scale of maritime fuel flows during the recent period with two main objectives: a) clarify the weight and connectivity of Maghreb ports, and b) better understand the specialization of these ports in terms of sectors (chemical products, oil, natural gas) and scales of flow (in and outside the Maghreb). The data released by the insurer Lloyd's List on the merchant ships' daily flows in the world were analyzed during two periods, October 2004 and May 2011, in order to map and analyze the vulnerability of Maghreb ports as well as the perspectives offered by the seaways of hydrocarbons.Le commerce international du Maghreb pris dans son ensemble repose en grande partie sur l'exportation de matières premières par voie maritime, dont les énergies fossiles et les produits miniers. La massification des flux permise par le transport maritime a motivé l'établissement de grands ports vraquiers dont la plupart côtoient des agglomérations littorales de taille démographique importante. Ce travail propose de resituer ces ports à l'échelle globale des circulations maritimes de flux énergétiques sur la période récente avec deux objectifs principaux : a) clarifier le poids et le rayonnement des ports du Maghreb dans le système global, et b) mieux saisir les spécialisations de ces ports en termes de filières (produits chimiques, pétroliers, gaz naturel) et d'échelles de flux (intra- et extra-Maghreb). Les données de l'assureur Lloyd's List sur la circulation quotidienne des navires de commerce dans le monde sont ainsi exploitées à deux périodes, octobre 2004 et mai 2011, en vue d'un traitement cartographique des flux et d'une discussion sur la vulnérabilité des ports du Maghreb ainsi que sur les perspectives offertes aux routes maritimes des hydrocarbures

Cartographie des risques industriels du dépot pétrolier à Hussein Dey, Alger (Algérie)

Hazard Mapping of Industrial Oil Storage in Hussein Dey, Algiers (Algeria). The industrial hazards are a danger to environment. It is the case of the fuel depot of Caroubier in the municpality of Hussein Dey in the outskirts of the capital Algiers. It is a potential danger in this urban area and a real challenge for the local authorities which do not have appropriate tools for risk management. The municipality possesses single maps with colored items corresponding to the identification of spatial risks. The objective of this article is to map the risks generated by fuel depot. This mapping will help us localize the spatial vulnerability to suggest land planning measures

Maghreb port cities in transition: the case of Tangier

Special issue "The contemporary port city and the new models of port-city relationships"International audienceThe port of Tangier is about to become one of the most dynamic ports across the Euro-Mediterranean area. The valuing of exceptional locational qualities as maritime crossroads between international shipping routes (Gibraltar Straits) occurs in a context of exacerbated rivalries among Mediterranean transhipment hubs (e.g. Algeciras, Valencia, Cagliari, Gioia Tauro, Taranto, and Marsaxlokk). Locally and regionally, it is made possible through the physical separation between the port city of Tangier and the new multifunctional site of Tangier Med, located 30 km eastwards. This paper recalls briefly the main historical steps of Tangier's development since its origins. Then, it reviews its recent evolution on three different geographic levels: the one of maritime flows and international port competition, the one of regional integration of Tangier in the Moroccan and Maghreb transport systems, and the local issues of port-city redevelopment both within the traditional city and at the new site of Tangier Med. Some concluding remarks aim at linking together these three levels of analysis in terms of the possible futures of this ambitious project

Les ports et la façade maritime du Maghreb, entre intégration régionale et mondiale

National audienceCentral Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) has a coastline of 3,000 km along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. At the crossroads between two oceans and two continents, it is a strategic player in the North/South interface constituted by the Mediterranean Sea. This paper assesses convergent and divergent elements in the spatial organization of this seafront and analyzes the role of ports and maritime transport in situating the Maghreb within both a regional and global network. Despite the key role of ports in regional economy, traffic growth, and the geographical expansion of maritime forelands, the region's territorial integration remains limited.Le Maghreb central (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie) possède une façade maritime de 3 000 km en bordure de la mer Méditerranée et de l'océan Atlantique. Sa position de carrefour entre deux mers et deux continents en fait un acteur stratégique de l'interface Nord/Sud que constitue la mer Méditerranée. Les auteurs passent ici en revue les éléments de convergence et de divergence dans l'organisation spatiale de cette façade et analysent le rôle des ports et du transport maritime dans la mise en relation régionale et mondiale des espaces du Maghreb. Malgré le rôle-clé des ports dans l'économie régionale, la croissance du trafic et l'élargissement géographique des avant-pays maritimes, l'intégration territoriale de cette région reste limitée

Du global au local : les nouveaux gérants des terminaux portuaires algériens

Increasingly aware of the failure of state-led port management, the Algerian central government has launched in 2006 a port reform allowing through public-private partnership the concession of some container terminals to foreign operators. Two major international players, Portek (Singapore) and Dubai Ports World, already established concessions in the container terminals of Alger, Djen Djen, and Bejaïa ports. This opening towards foreign partners is highly strategic as it aims at modernizing ports, better connect them with global shipping, and avoid the bypass of Algeria by other transshipment hub ports of the Mediterranean such as Tangier Med. This article evaluates the impact of reforms and concessions on the port and logistics performance of Algeria

Les ports algériens dans la mondialisation : la fin du paradoxe ?

National audienceAlgerian commercial ports are caught into an important paradox in their development. On the one hand, the flow extraversion logic which has been inherited from the colonial period - still reinforced later on - has made the Algerian economy strongly dependent on maritime transport (about 95% of the Algerian international trade). On the other hand, the slowness in harbor substructure modernization accentuates their growing inadequacy to the globalized standards of modern logistics. The passage from the state control of the economy to the liberal one, in the 1990s has but increased the trend. The harbors being unable to absorb trade flows (weak productivity, very long waiting delays of the ships, terminals saturation, limited nautical access...) to the point of slowing down the country insertion within the world economy. Recent measures taken by the Algerian authorities aim to rehabilitate the national ports so that they might, on the one hand, achieve their role as transport substructures and as means of arranging the territory, and on the other hand to reduce the dependency towards other Maghreb and Mediterranean ports by attracting more direct calls. To this can be added the contracts concluded with foreign partners such as DPW (Dubai Ports World) for the ports of Algiers and Djen Djen, and Protek International (Singapore) for the port of Bejaia. As a conclusion, the article tries to estimate to what extent those dynamics could make it possible to find a solution, at least partly, to the paradox felt by Algerian portsLes ports de commerce algériens sont pris dans un paradoxe important de leur développement. D'un côté, la logique d'extraversion des flux héritée de la période coloniale - et renforcée par la suite - a rendu l'économie algérienne fortement dépendante envers le transport maritime (environ 95% du commerce international algérien). De l'autre, le retard dans la modernisation des infrastructures portuaires accentue leur inadéquation croissante aux normes mondialisées de la logistique moderne. Le passage de l'économie étatisée à l'économie libérale, au début des années 1990, n'a fait qu'aggraver la tendance, les ports étant incapables d'absorber efficacement les flux commerciaux (faible productivité, délais d'attente très longs des navires, saturation des terminaux, accessibilité nautique limitée...), allant jusqu'à ralentir l'insertion même du pays dans l'économie mondiale. Des mesures récentes prises par les autorités algériennes visent à, réhabiliter les ports nationaux afin qu'ils puissent, d'une part, assurer leur rôles d'infrastructures de transport et d'outils d'aménagement du territoire, et de l'autre, réduire la dépendance envers les autres ports maghrébins et méditerranéens en attirant plus d'escales directes. A ceci s'ajoutent les contrats de management passés avec des partenaires étrangers comme DPW (Dubaï Ports World) pour les ports d'Alger et de Djen Djen, et Protek International (Singapour) pour le port de Béjaïa. Au final, l'article tente d'évaluer en quoi ces dynamiques peuvent permettre de résoudre, au moins partiellement, le paradoxe des ports algérien