Moroccan Expats Stranded at French Port as Ferry Service to Tangier Overwhelmed

"I had bought a ticket for 1,600 euros to cross. Fortunately I was refunded but no way to take another ticket. The website is no longer working. I’ve been waiting for 10 days," says Jalal, a forty-year-old American and Moroccan, who presents himself as the spokesman for the people stuck in their cars in the Orsetti maritime port parking lot. The latter number 150 (entire families with children, disabled people, elderly people).

For several days, Intershipping has not been able to charter a ship to allow them to reach Morocco. "Every day, they tell us that a boat will be able to embark us tomorrow. We remain in waiting, without food and without water," laments Nadia, who arrived from Le Mans with a ticket in her pocket. She wants to go to Morocco to support her mother who will have to undergo surgery. "I’m going to Morocco for an urgent reason. My mother with cancer is having an operation and I want to be with her," says this MRE.

Intershipping, the third operator now operating maritime ferry crossings from Sète to Morocco, is facing several difficulties. Its website is down. The shipping company initially mandated by the Moroccan company is no longer a stakeholder.