Beirut Port on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a major expansion of its container terminal during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Beirut Port Chairman and Director General Marwan Naffi said the project, the third and largest phase in the terminal’s history, will expand its area from 45 hectares to more than 75 hectares and increase annual capacity from 1.3 million to 3 million containers by 2028.
Naffi said the port has endured regional upheaval, wars and changing trade routes throughout its 139-year history, stressing that its journey did not end with the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion.
Salam said the expansion reflects a broader effort to restore Beirut port’s role as a major Eastern Mediterranean hub and rebuild confidence in Beirut and Lebanon.
He said the project will increase capacity, speed up container handling, reduce vessel waiting times and improve services, helping the port compete for shipping lines and transit trade.
Salam stressed that geographic location alone is no longer enough to compete with other Eastern Mediterranean ports. He said Beirut needs efficient management, transparent procedures, modern technology and better transport infrastructure.
The government’s vision, he said, is for a modern, digital and secure port operating under clear governance and international professional and safety standards. Digitalization would help reduce costs, corruption and arbitrary practices while improving confidence among importers and exporters.
Salam also linked the port’s development to accountability for the August 4 explosion, saying the victims must not be forgotten.
“As we work to develop the port, we cannot separate the necessary expansion from achieving justice, nor the modernization of its facilities from the duty of accountability,” he said.
Salam said Lebanon aims to restore Beirut port’s role in transit and re-export trade and develop it into an advanced logistics hub serving Lebanon and neighboring Arab countries.
He said this would require improving roads and congestion around the port, developing rail and tunnel infrastructure and establishing dry ports connecting Beirut with other parts of Lebanon and the region. The government has begun preparing a study on linking the port to the Bekaa Valley through a tunnel and railway line.
Salam also called for greater integration between Beirut and Lebanon’s other ports, particularly Tripoli, Jounieh and Sidon, as part of a national maritime transport strategy.
He said rebuilding the port is closely linked to rebuilding the state, stressing that investor and shipping company confidence depends on stable rules, an independent judiciary, effective administration and cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Salam said the expansion should also create jobs for Lebanese youth in maritime transport, logistics, technology and supply chain management.
Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny said the project was not simply an expansion of the container terminal but part of a broader effort to strengthen Beirut port’s strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean and Lebanon’s role in regional and global trade.
CMA CGM Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said the foundation stone represented more than the expansion itself, describing it as a symbol of a port moving forward and of Lebanon reclaiming its ambitions.