Port Overview

The Port of Zarzis is located in the southernmost part of Tunisia, where the diversified economic activity consists mainly in farming, fishery and aquaculture, tourism, an emergent industrial network, craft industries, and various small-scale trades. The port of Zarzis exports sea salt and crude oil and imports pure oil products. The OMMP invested 30 MD between 2017 and 2018 for dredging. In its first commissioning, the ferry terminal of Zarzis port handled three stopovers made by the national shipowner CTN hosting 3000 passengers and 1000 cars. OMMP is developing a passenger terminal on an area 5000 m² equipped with all the modern facilities required for customs and police formalities with a budget of 1.5 MD. This 700 m² terminal has a reception structure for the pedestrian , to be accompanied by the development of the main access north of the port to ensure a better flow of this traffic. The port of Zarzis underwent at the beginning of 2017 a dredging and rehabilitation of the depths to be situated between 10 and 11 m with an investment of 26.5 MD. This project aims to ensure the safety of navigation in the channel and the harbor basin and to encourage operators and shipowners to develop new regular shipping lines with the port. These investments estimated cost of 2 million dinars in the construction of a new passenger terminal and a shelter for cars outside the harbour space on one hand, the promotion of the port and its potential for the other hand

Port website: PORT WEBSITE

Key port information may also be found at: http://www.maritime-database.com

Port Picture

Zarzis Port Layout

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

The Tunisian sea freight company STTAT, which offers industry and commerce shipping and multimodal groupage traffic services, and its partner TARROS (an Italian container transporter), has collaborated with the GRENDI Group, which provides national cabotage traffic between Marina diCarrara and the capital of Sardinia, Cagliari, to expand this maritime link to Sousse and Sfax, through its newly created subsidiary ProCargo Line. Fifty stopovers at the Ports of Sousse and Sfax have already been made.

For information on port rates and charges, please see the following link:  PORT COMPANIES CONTACT LIST

Port Performance

The port of Zarzis is an agricultural and commercial port with more than 140,000 TEUs and nearly 5,000,000 tons of general cargo in 2019. The commercial port of Zarzis is ensures the transit of goods on behalf of neighboring factories located in the industrial zone of Zarzis. This bulk traffic mainly consists of salt and crude oils on export and diverse goods on import. In 2019, freight traffic was 3,786,000 tons, international traffic amounted to 3,900,000 tons and national cabotage to 6,000 tons. The ships amounted to 1226. The Port of Zarzis has a strategic geographic position, well-maintained berths, sufficient draft to accommodate large-capacity vessels, more specifically dedicated to bulk cargo.

Discharge Rates and Terminal Handling Charges

The harbour dues on ships, goods and passengers collected by the OMMP fall in with the changes and developments gone through by the port running system and transport technologies and are adapted to the expectations of the port operators. The most recent of these actions bears on the launching of a study on the restructuring of harbour dues and price scales, taking into account the new attributions of the OMMP as ancient authority and the role it is called upon to play within the framework of the concession agreements on the public port domain, offering to public users and other private operators the possibility to build harbour works or to use private material for providing public services.

Details OMMP – Zarzis Port

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Berthing Specifications

The quays in the port have different structures:

• Port enclosure: 28 hectares.
• Port platforms: 13 hectares.
• Hangars: 5000 m² + 4000 m².
• West quay posts 5, 6 and 7 with a total length of 600 m with a depth of - 10.50 m Hydro.
• North platform posts 3 and 4 with a total length of 340 m with a depth of - 10.50 m Hydro.
• South quay substations 8, 9 and 10 with a total length of 785 m with a depth of - 11.5 m Hydro.
• Service dock of length 139 ml with a depth of -5.00m.
• The Zarzis commercial port offers a quay line with a total length of 1,725 ​​m.

General Cargo Handling Berths

• Length 9 Km (5 miles)
• Depth acceptable actually 7.5 metres = 24.60 feet
• 1 Tugboat of 1600 hp
• 1 Pilot boat of 300 hp

Port Handling Equipment

• 1 Moving charger for salt loading (private operators).
• 1 Charger with conveyor belts for salt loading (private operators).
• 2 pneumatic versatile cranes (100 tons and 150 tons) and forklifts of different tonnages and other various equipment (Handling Companies).

Container Facilities

The port of Zarzis has a land reserve covering an area of 135 hectares in the port public domain, located on the West side of the harbor and bounded on the North by the city and in the South by the sea, dedicated to the establishment of projects in conjunction with port activity.

Customs Guidance

Customs clearance consists of presenting the goods at a Customs office and allocating them a Customs system. On reaching Customs, goods are automatically sorted by the SINDA (Automated Customs Information System) according to certain criteria, especially the nature of the product and the importer. The sorting leads to a system of channels: the "green channel" for goods which present no risk (brief inspection of the documents), the "orange channel" for medium level risks (normal inspection), the "red channel" for extreme risks (complete inspection). The inspection may consist of x-raying the whole container, but also x-raying or opening each package. When they have been inspected, the goods receive a temporary collection permit which allows them to be stocked for further inspection or a permit for clearance inward. The latter can take up to 11 days.  In total, according to the WTO and in June 2005, the time required for Customs clearance, for unbranded products subject to foreign trade formalities, from arrival at the port/airport to clearance inward, varied from 7 to 20 days. Customs duties are about 3%. The principle is to pay duties and taxes in cash.

For information on Port of Sousse customs information, please see the following link.

Terminal Information

Multipurpose Terminal

• Access channel: length of 8400 m – width of 125 m – depth of 11 m
• Surface of man-made lake: 35 Ha
• Mean depth of man-made lake: 11 m
• Breakwater with a length of 1505 m.
• Turning circle of 450 m of diameter.

Grain and Bulk Handling

• Basins: The harbor water area (80 ha) in 2 basins
• An outdoor pool of 50 ha, at -12.5 m.
• An indoor pool of 30 ha, at -10.5 m.
• The swing circle has a diameter of 600 meters

Main Storage Terminal

• Fitted ground: 45,000 m²
• Bare land: 90,000 m²
• Store and covered shed: 3000 m²

Stevedoring

OMMP performs all stevedoring activities which consist of the loading and unloading of ships and the performance of various tasks required when the vessel is in port, including lashing and unlashing of cargo. Maritime ports Code in Tunisia (French version only)

Hinterland Information

• The MC road 118 leading to Medinine (65 km) and Gabès (140 km).
• The MC road 117 leading to Jerba (50 km).
• The MC road 109 leading to the Libyan border (75 km).

The Port of Zarzis is connected to the hinterland and the region's industrial estates by the MC33 highway. The container terminal and specialized berths are also linked to the rail network by both metric and normal tracks. Goods are transported out of the port by trucks.  Most trucking companies are members of OMMP and all trucking companies operating at the port must be registered with the Shipping Association of Tunisia (AMT).  There are also vessels that depart from Tunisian ports and travel coastwise east to Asian countries crossing Suez Canal that transport cargo to that region of the North African and Middle east. Most others are travelling out of Mediterranean Sea to Atlantic Ocean.

Port Security

Protective structures

• A 2880 m long North pier protects the port against the waves by the prevailing north and north / east winds.
• A 1460 m long South pier completes protection against East and South / East winds.