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Maysam Rizk wrote in “Al-Akhbar”: The port of Beirut continues to register a notable decrease in its movement. The reason is due to the economic crisis and the Corona virus, not the explosion that hit it on August 4; Statistics confirm that the large decline began at the end of last year, while the container terminal, the only survivor of the damage, continues to run on “raw meat”.“.
On the day that “ammonium nitrate” exploded in pavilion 12, knocking the port of Beirut off its father’s reel, the logic was that this place was no longer usable, and that it would take years and billions of dollars to resume your activity. Even shipping companies whose ships were sailing in the direction of Beirut began to divert their routes to the port of Tripoli to unload their cargo. However, the surprise was that the movement of the port resumed only one week after the explosion, due to the absence of damage to the container terminal, since the most important role of the port is linked to this terminal, which operates the 75 percent of “bur” traffic. The station suffered damage that did not prevent it from starting work on berths 12, 13 and 14, after army units cleared the debris and removed it from the surrounding yards. This station is operated by a company “Bctc” With which the Lebanese state has signed a contract with him since 2004, it can be said that he has returned to his usual job by 90%. It works at Berth No. 16 and is capable of receiving all ships except the regular ships that used to unload their cargo in the destroyed old port for grain and other things. They are now moored at berths 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15, while wheat ships unload their cargo directly into trucks instead of waste, and then transport them to mills that have small waste, according to the annual report of the International Chamber of Navigation in Beirut..
The report restores the resumption of activity to “the joint effort of all authorities, port administrations, customs, the operator of the container terminal and pilot station, unions, companies and shipping agencies that operate in the port on the one hand, and all security agencies for another. ” And it confirms that «the management of the container terminal in the port of Beirut, was able to secure the cash in cash (cash) Required to purchase spare parts for the repair of overhead cranes that were damaged by the explosion, and these parts are expected to arrive from abroad during the current month. It is noteworthy that «8 gantry cranes are currently working at the container terminal, while 7 cranes await the arrival of these parts to start repairing them.».
However, the reality in the container terminal since its resumption of works says the opposite, since sources familiar with the progress of the works in the port affirm that “coordination is not necessary.” The operator “lost many of its administrative offices, in addition to a pavilion containing more than 100,000 spare parts that disappeared completely, and no traces of them are found.” Sources say that “the company has drawn up an operational plan from the first day of the explosion to resume work”, but “suffers, like the various companies that have funds in Lebanese banks, difficulty in using their money”, and therefore both “any malfunction in the cranes it owns or in the company’s equipment has become a big problem, because it cannot import alternatives from it”, in addition to that “the state is delaying the payment of the fees owed to the company “. Sources confirm that “no party in the state has not contacted the company since the explosion, since the relationship is direct with the port administration, which has not yet had clarity from the company about the losses it has incurred. and no assistance has been offered. ” It is possible that the policy will not allow her to continue working in the coming months, noting that the contract period with her expired last December, without a new tender, and today she works by proxy through a contract that is renewed every three months.».
Has port traffic decreased due to the explosion?
There is no doubt that port traffic was significantly reduced. However, this decrease is not related to the explosion on August 4. The downward trend began at the end of last year, and the reason was the deterioration of economic and financial conditions, since merchants could no longer open funds in dollars to import their merchandise and the transfer of money abroad was prevented , which negatively affected shipping companies. Nor can the coronavirus be ignored, which has hit the world economy and with it, global trade. All of these issues naturally led to a decline in the “transshipment” movement and, consequently, in the port movement in general. Statistics from the International Chamber of Navigation report showed that the port registered a decrease in its total movement in the first eight months of this year, compared to that registered in the same period last year. This decrease has affected the total of port imports and the movement of imported containers charged for internal consumption, and those exported full of Lebanese goods and the total of containers charged for transshipment..
Comparison with the total movement of the port of Beirut in the first eight months of the years 2019 and 2020 showed a decrease in the total number of ships by 21%, a decrease in the quantity of goods by 38%, a decrease in imported goods with the local consumption rate by 41% and a decrease in the percentage of goods. Lebanese exported by sea accounted for 18%. As for container traffic, it fell to 524,166 TEU, compared to 859,933 TEU in the same period last year, that is, a decrease of 335,767 TEU, which is 39%..
Statistics also pointed out that the drop in total traffic in the first eight months of this year was negatively reflected in the overall total of port imports, which amounted to $ 74,078 million, compared to $ 136,486 million in the same period last year. , a decrease of 46 percent. As for the movement after the Beirut explosion until the current month, it fell by an insignificant percentage of the aforementioned figures, but this fall is brought again by the sources to the economic situation and the Corona virus, not to the capacity of the port or operating station, and container movement at Beirut port is expected to continue to decline as the virus continues to spread. And his persistence in attacking the economic movement and the global maritime trade movement..
The port of Tripoli … an increase in movement
The Port of Tripoli played a positive role in the days when the Port of Beirut was closed to maritime traffic. It allowed ships that changed their course of navigation from the port of Beirut to the port of Tripoli to unload their cargo at its warehouses and docks, especially for the container ships it received at the container terminal dock, which is 600 meters long. If it had not been for the creation of this station in the port of Tripoli, the ships would have had to go to the ports of neighboring countries to unload their cargo, which would have resulted in the Lebanese consumer incurring additional charges to forward them. to the port of Beirut after resuming work. The House report confirms that the Port of Tripoli registered a higher total movement last August than in the same month of the previous year. This increase was positively reflected in port imports.
When comparing the total traffic of the Port of Tripoli between August 2019 and 2020, the number of ships increased by 55 per cent and the quantities of goods increased by 79 per cent, while imported goods registered an increase of 99 per cent and total containers increased 23 percent. However, the need for the port of Tripoli to replace the port of Beirut for some time does not eliminate the fact that it cannot be an alternative despite all its working capabilities, and we tell sources, as it contains equipment that They allow you to cope with the traditional ships that carry wheat, flour, sugar, wood and other things. Materials and goods. The container terminal developed in the port of Tripoli is small and equipped with only two bridge cranes, compared to the port of Beirut, which is equipped with 15 gantry cranes, which means that the port of Tripoli can receive only one ship. at the same time, and you cannot deal with 3 or 4 ships together, highlighting that the survival of the ship Waiting for you outside the port would be costly for the shipping lines..
