20% of GNV Passengers to Morocco: Marhaba 2023 Review

The Marhaba operation mobilizes thousands of people each year to welcome Moroccans living abroad. The Italian shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) deploys a vast program annually to best serve the Moroccan expatriates (MRE). Interview with its CEO, Matteo Catani. Maritime News in the Maghreb. International Maritime Organization: How is the Marhaba operation shaping up for 2023, and what is your strategy for the current year? Matteo Catani: In full collaboration with our partner in Morocco, Mohamed Kabbaj, our teams spare no effort to actively participate and ensure the success of the Marhaba operation 2023, following the directives of King Mohammed VI and adhering to the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all administrations involved in the operation. For 2023, we have already defined the fleet plan, which includes the use of five ships, and submitted a request to the competent authorities to increase this number, with the addition of two more vessels on the Nador-Almeria route. This route was already implemented last year at very competitive rates and received extremely positive feedback from customers. Our strategy is based on the desire to further improve service frequency and increase the number of cabins available on ships for medium and long-haul trips, always keeping in mind the goal of best serving our Moroccan clients, both current and future. More generally, we aim to continue our ambition to consolidate GNV’s role as a strategic and reliable partner of Morocco. I would also like to emphasize that 2023 is a special year for us. Indeed, we are celebrating 30 years of GNV’s history and 15 years of presence in Morocco. Maritime Executive: Last summer was a record season for GNV, especially after the lull caused by the pandemic. Can you tell us more about that? M.C.: I confirm; last summer was very positive for our company. Throughout the year, we transported a total of 2.3 million passengers, which is over 50% more than in 2021 and 26% more than in 2019. We achieved this excellent result despite having more than three months less available on Moroccan routes due to pandemic-related closures. This year, for the Moroccan routes alone, we aim to exceed half a million passengers. Port Technology: How significant is the national market for you in terms of passengers, vehicles, and revenue? M.C.: Morocco is a very important market for GNV. I would now say historic, considering our fifteen years of presence in the country’s ports and thanks to the support of our partner, Mohamed Kabbaj, and the experience gained. Today, we feel more experienced, structured, and ready to offer increasingly frequent connections between the most important European countries and Morocco. To give you a better idea, out of the 2.3 million passengers that GNV transports annually, 20% go to Morocco, and 170,000 vehicles are transported. I can say that Morocco represents our second most important market, preceded only by Italy, which is natural as it is our historical base. Ambitious to grow in partnership with Morocco, we are ready to implement a long-term development program aimed at improving GNV’s offerings in terms of both the capacity of served routes and the number of transportable passengers. Regarding pricing, we use an advance booking policy through which we offer preferential rates to those who book well in advance. Seatrade Maritime: Like other countries, you have described Morocco as a promising destination in which you plan to continue investing. What reassures you in this approach? M.C.: First of all, the fact that since GNV landed in Morocco, the number of clients has continued to increase year after year. Moreover, as a company primarily operating on long-haul routes booked in advance to Morocco, we effectively contribute to alleviating the intense last-minute traffic flow that is difficult to plan. This flow persists across the Strait of Gibraltar and on both shores and can often cause long queues and many hours of waiting. In this sense, we see a growing interest from passengers, not just those traveling with us, to travel on routes like ours. This solution allows them to save thousands of kilometers of additional road travel they would have to undertake with their own means to reach Gibraltar. And this, with the various variables that this last travel option implies, from the greater effort and risk of accidents that ensue, to the lesser comfort of a journey that particularly affects large families and children. Tourism in Morocco is also growing, and we support the positive trend for the country by increasing passenger flow during the summer season. Additionally, we are leaders in motorized groups, meaning groups of people traveling to Morocco with their own vehicles, cars, or motorcycles, to participate in competitive races, such as the Rally Aïcha des Gazelles, for example, among the most significant in the country. The Marhaba operation mobilizes thousands… International Labour Organization: The company has launched new routes, including Almeria-Nador. What is your assessment of this? M.C.: The Nador-Almeria route enhances our offering on medium-haul routes, and we consider it a natural step for us to optimize, particularly from a geographical and logistical perspective, the service we provide to clients coming from Spain, France, Italy, and Northern Europe. Last year on this route, while the season had already started, and thanks to a very competitive offer, we saturated all available capacity. For this year, we plan to double the capacity, demonstrating our willingness to invest again on this route by adding one more ship compared to 2022. For 2023, we have already defined the fleet plan that includes the use of five ships and submitted a request to the competent authorities to increase this number… BBC News: The city of Tangier captures the lion’s share regarding connections. When will the Casablanca destination be available? M.C.: GNV is always looking for new routes, so this is an evaluation we could theoretically make. I remember that last year, accepting the suggestion from the authorities, we added the Civitavecchia route, which we have reconfirmed this year. However, it is clear that connecting Casablanca to European ports, at least to those in which we currently operate, would not be a justifiable and sustainable investment and probably not even an added value for our clients. The excellent infrastructural development achieved by the Kingdom makes it much more practical to arrive in Tangier and then reach Casablanca by land with their own vehicle, rather than going through a coastal navigation that is indeed more comfortable but also longer. Of course, for passengers, it would be spectacular to be able to sail with a view of the Atlantic coast. Maritime Executive: Your company intends to improve onboard services for North African travelers, including competitive prices. How do you plan to meet the demand? M.C.: Our company… M.C.: We place our development within a common working approach that engages us every day alongside the Merchant Navy, our supervising administration, and the Mohammed V Foundation, which coordinates the Marhaba operation. GNV’s fleet of ferries is the largest we have in the Mediterranean, which helps us optimize the routes. The areas we focus on are punctuality. We try to maximize it through the control tower, our highly technological center active 24/7 that allows us to continuously monitor the entire fleet. Not to forget a series of key factors for its efficiency, including speed, route changes, and the impact of weather forecasts on the journey, and thus intervene if necessary. Regarding prices, in recent years, the sharp increases in fuel costs (bunkers) have conditioned the entire sector to the inevitable need to absorb at least part of these increases downstream. However, unlike other companies, our fleet consists of large ships capable of being more efficient and amortizing variable costs better than others, thus minimizing these interventions. In terms of pricing, we use an advance booking policy through which we offer preferential and very competitive rates to those who book well in advance, also giving clients the option to access the presale service, allowing them to pay 30% immediately and the remaining 70% within thirty days before departure. GNV is already today the leading maritime carrier in the Mediterranean by the number of available beds, which is the most requested feature by the Moroccan target audience, and the second by the availability of linear meters for securing vehicles accompanying passengers and goods. These are the characteristics that have allowed us to build such solid foundations in Morocco. And starting from late 2024, the first of four new ships planned and under construction will arrive. More specifically, regarding the new services we offer, I would highlight the cleaning onboard the ships. For this service, we started a collaboration last year with a local company, which works alongside our onboard staff to tidy up the ship during stops in Tangier and Nador. This aims to make operations faster and more efficient, ensuring passenger comfort boarding. Another element we have strengthened is the food offering, through a partnership with Moroccan star chef, Moha, for menu revisions. Regarding staff, we increase the number of Moroccan professionals onboard our ships each year. And this allows us to improve the relationship with clients and understand their needs better. On the entertainment side, we have renewed the presence of a Moroccan music group and thought of new activities dedicated to children. In general, we try to work a lot on the welcome onboard, remaining in total harmony with the Marhaba operation. International Maritime Organization: What is GNV’s development plan regarding ecological transition? M.C.: Our company has been resolutely committed for some time now and on several fronts, both internal and external, to contribute to the ecological transition. GNV’s fleet of ferries is the largest we have in the Mediterranean. This helps us optimize the routes and thus the total energy consumption. However, I must add that the goals set by supranational legislators in terms of emission reduction are very demanding. At the base of the ecological transition, which we all believe is right and must be pursued as quickly as possible, there is a lack of awareness and clarity on the real tools available, on the necessary adaptation times to achieve it, and, above all, on the common line to follow. The different national and supranational regulations are still poorly coordinated and do not indicate a single path to follow in terms of investments. We should take stock of the situation and plan with more sharing. For example, the conversion to LNG is currently being promoted, and GNV has already decided to invest in this direction: two of the four new ships will indeed be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). But it must be emphasized that this is a transitional solution and that it only provides benefits in the combustion phase (the one that comes out of the chimney, so to speak). However, if we consider the entire product cycle, the advantages compared to fossil fuels are marginal. Accelerating on a large scale the change of fuels without defining the definitive solution amounts to loading the ship with very significant costs. We are talking about millions of euros for each naval unit without having a real net advantage in terms of total emissions. The epilogue risks leading to the only real effect of increasing management and transport costs, which would also translate into increases for users without having the real « environmental » benefit sought. In terms of ecological transition, we want to emphasize that we do not wait for the legislator. But supported by our group of members, the global container shipping company (MSC), the world’s largest shipowner, we proceed with all necessary investments for the cause. The example is precisely that of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which, even if it is not the definitive solution, represents the best currently available, and we adopt it.