These ships are in addition to the 8 vessels already at Morocco's disposal

Operación Marhaba: Rabat fleta dos barcos de una empresa estonia para reforzar las rutas con Francia e Italia

photo_camera PHOTO/AFP - This photograph, taken on June 28, 2019, shows a view of the container cranes at Terminal I of the port of Tangier Med, in the northern city of Tangier.

Morocco has announced an agreement between the port of Tangier and the Estonian company Tallink Grupp. The Baltic company will provide two ships, Victoria I and Romantika, which will take part in Operation Marhaba between France, Italy and Morocco. This operation will last until September and aims to facilitate the return of Moroccans abroad during the summer.

The Estonian vessels will form two additional sea routes. The Victoria I left Tallinn on 28 June, while the Romantika will depart on 5 July. The chartering of these ships has been agreed until October, when they will return to Estonia.

"We are pleased to have succeeded in reaching another charter contract for our ships, which will not have to stay in port until restrictions are loosened and voyages resume," said Paavo Nogene, director of Tallink Grupp

The Estonian company also claimed to have experience in the Mediterranean area, where some of its ships were chartered for shorter periods for four years. "Our crews already have experience of sailing in this region," Nogene said. This agreement with Morocco helps mitigate the effects the pandemic has had and continues to have on the shipping company. "We are working to take advantage of other chartering opportunities to provide work for the ships' crews," the company added in a statement. 

atalayar_operacion marhaba marruecos

These two Estonian ships will join the other eight that Morocco already has for Operation Marhaba. These ships will carry between 20,000 and 27,000 travellers each week, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The European cities with which they operate are Genoa, Sète and Marseilles. The fare for these routes is 995 euros. In addition, they have recently added the Portuguese town of Portimao, after eliminating the Spanish ports from the operation. The journey time to Portugal will be around seven hours and a return ticket will cost 450 euros for four people and one vehicle.

This is the first time in 34 years that Morocco has excluded Spain, home to a large Moroccan community. The current diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid has triggered this situation, which will be detrimental to citizens living in Spain who want to return to Morocco in the summer. Spanish shipping companies, especially Balearia and Trasmediterránea, will also suffer the effects of this decision. According to Aesba, the Algeciras port services business association, it will have a "significant and very negative" impact on the companies involved in this operation. They also warn that thousands of jobs are at risk. Reyes Maroto, Minister of Trade and Tourism, has assured that "we will respect what Morocco has decided". For his part, the president of the Andalusian regional government, Juanma Moreno, has reproached the government for saying that his community cannot be the "payer" of the conflicts with Morocco. 

atalayar_puerto ceuta

However, Rabat has reopened its airspace and Spain is on the list of countries with good control of coronavirus infections. People wishing to fly to the Alawi kingdom from Spanish airports will have to present a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR, without the need for a 10-day quarantine, as other citizens travelling from countries "without accurate statistics" of the coronavirus must do.

More in Society