Egypt’s Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir and his French counterpart, Philippe Tabarot, visited the Tahya Misr container terminal at Alexandria Port on 8th September 2026, highlighting the growing importance of maritime cooperation between Egypt and France. The facility is operated by French shipping and logistics company CMA CGM, and the tour focused on the terminal’s operations and its role in Egypt’s maritime transport sector. French Ambassador to Cairo Eric Chevallier also took part in the visit.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Transport, the terminal is operated by CMA CGM under a partnership with Egypt Maritime Ports Company and has handled roughly 2.5 million shipping containers since it began operations, with more than a third accounted for by transit trade. Deputy Minister for Maritime Transport Nihad Shahin, Alexandria Port Authority chairman Ihab Salah El-Din, Maritime Transport Sector head Hussein El-Gazerly and Assistant Transport Minister for Maritime Transport Mohamed Fathy received the two ministers at the facility.
Terminal Capacity and Expanding Operations
Terminal board chairman Mahmoud Khedeir briefed the ministers on the facility’s infrastructure and operational capacity. The terminal covers 500,000 square metres and has 2,500 metres of berths with depths reaching 17.5 metres. These facilities allow it to receive vessels as long as 400 metres and carrying up to 24,000 TEUs. The terminal has a capacity of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and 15 million tons of general cargo, while its operations have generated 1,000 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs through about 25 partner companies.
Its equipment includes four ship-to-shore cranes, 12-yard cranes and 1,260 refrigerated container points, in addition to two 4,500-square-meter warehouses. Since opening, the facility has received 1,360 vessels and processed about 2.5 million TEUs, with 38 percent in transit. Trial rail operations started in January 2025, and 360 trains have handled roughly 35,000 TEUs so far. Ministry figures also showed that Egypt Maritime Ports Company recorded a 22 percent rise in container throughput across its facilities in the first half of 2026.
CMA CGM Partnership Supports Digital Operations
Terminal executive director Anas El-Smeili said the facility resulted from a partnership between Egypt Maritime Ports Company and CMA CGM Group signed in November 2021. According to El-Smeili, the arrangement supported the transfer of expertise, staff training and improvements in operational efficiency, especially in the handling of transit containers. He described the terminal as the French group’s first investment in Egypt, followed by expansion into Ain Sokhna and Cairo’s October Dry Port.
Operations department head Ibrahim Ali said the facility uses an integrated digital system for operations, planning, maintenance and automatic vehicle recognition through electronic gates, in line with international standards. He added that the control centre oversees terminal activities in real time, “from the arrival of ships and the movement of containers to their exit through the gates,” and described it as one of CMA CGM’s best-performing terminals worldwide.
Strategic Partnership and Maritime Transport Development
Al-Wazir said Egypt’s port development programme forms part of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s effort to make greater use of the country’s location along major global shipping routes. The government is seeking to develop Egyptian ports as transit hubs and raise the country’s share of global transit trade through direct shipping links and integrated rail-and-sea operations.
He described maritime cooperation between the Transport Ministry, through Egypt Maritime Ports Company, and its French counterpart, through CMA CGM, as “a pioneering model of strategic partnership” reflecting deep, longstanding ties between the two countries, particularly in maritime transport and ports. Al-Wazir said the government’s plan for the maritime transport industry, a pillar of Egypt’s Vision 2030, focuses on developing seaports, expanding the merchant fleet and establishing strategic partnerships with major terminal operators and shipping lines to attract more vessel calls and increase transit trade.
He also highlighted the maritime cooperation developing the Red Sea Container Terminal at Ain Sokhna, involving Abu Dhabi’s HPH, CMA Terminal, CMA CGM and China’s COSCO.
Tahya Misr is among several projects included in a wider strategy to establish integrated logistics hubs connecting seaports with dry ports, border crossings and industrial, agricultural and mining zones through an expanding rail network. Tabarot welcomed the visit to Alexandria and stressed the importance of cooperation between the port and France’s Marseille, while praising the “fruitful cooperation” between CMA CGM and Egypt Maritime Ports Company.
He also highlighted the “great progress” in Egypt’s urban transport network and its diverse transport system, including efforts to move freight onto railways, and said the French government attaches “great importance” to deepening transport-sector cooperation with Cairo. Alexandria Port, he said, remains an important part of global trade and international shipping corridors.
