Port of Beirut
The Port of Beirut (Arabic: مرفأ بيروت) is the main port in Lebanon on the eastern part of the Saint George Bay on Beirut's northern Mediterranean coast, west of the Beirut River. It is one of the largest and busiest ports on the Eastern Mediterranean.[2]
On 4 August 2020, a large explosion, caused by improperly stored ammonium nitrate, occurred at the port, killing at least 218 people, injuring more than 7,000 and rendering 300,000 others homeless.[3] Large sections of the port and its infrastructure were destroyed,[4] including most of Beirut's grain reserves,[5] and billions of dollars in damages were inflicted across the city.[6][7][8] The Port of Beirut was forced to close, due to the large-scale damage caused by the explosions, with cargo being redirected to smaller ports, such as Tripoli and Tyre.[9] Prior to the disaster, about 60 percent of Lebanon's imports came through the port, according to an S&P Global estimate.[10]
On 14 April 2022, the Lebanese government ordered the demolition of Beirut’s grain silos, which are at risk of collapse after the 2020 port explosion.[11] On 31 July and 4 August 2022, exactly 2 years after the explosion, the northern parts of the existing grain silos fell down.[12]
Management[edit]
The port has been nicknamed the "Cave of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" due to longstanding reports of corruption, including evasion of customs duties at the port due to bribery schemes and the undervaluation of imports.[13] In the early 2010s, Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi estimated that tax evasion at the port amounted to more than $1.5 billion annually.[14] The port also earns this nickname for its abandonment of cargo and crew. In the aftermath of massive explosions in 2020, in an apparent industrial accident, Faysal Itani, a political analyst and deputy director of the Center for Global Policy at Georgetown University wrote that the Port, like other aspects of Lebanese society, suffered from "pervasive culture of negligence, petty corruption and blame-shifting."[15]