Months after the Beirut Port was impacted by the massive blast of August 4th, Lebanon is still relying on the port of Lebanon’s second-largest city, Tripoli, to make up for the loss.
Immediately after the blast, the northern port was the obvious choice for the job.
At the time, caretaker Transport Minister Michel Najjar declared, “We will rely on the port of Tripoli – we are assessing its capacity – and other ports in Sidon and Tyre.”
Tripoli Port’s Director General Ahmad Tamer then asserted that the port of Tripoli was ready to take over operations at a massive scale and can handle the trade of 5 million tons of wheat and 300,000 containers.
In a recent interview with China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua, Tamer said that the northern port has been working closely with the Beirut port to fill the gap left by the blast.
“Tripoli’s port is storing products, mainly grains, which arrive in the country since storage areas in Beirut’s port were destroyed by the explosions,” he said.
The blast severely damaged the grain silos at Beirut’s port, leaving the grains inside unsuitable for human or animal consumption, according to caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme, who added that Lebanon intends to demolish the silos.
It’s worth noting that, fortunately, the containers’ station at the Beirut port is still operational, according to Tamer, hence containers are still being received at Beirut.
