Southern LimakPort ready for Lebanon’s use
LIMAKPORT İskenderun International Port in the southern Turkish province of Hatay is ready to be of use for all of Lebanon’s needs following the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut, İskenderun port manager Gündüz Arısoy said yesterday.
The statement came following Vice President Fuat Oktay’s earlier remarks that Ankara had told Lebanon that it can use Turkish ports on the Mediterranean coast, namely the Mersin International Port or the İskenderun International Port, until the Port of Beirut is rebuilt. He also said Ankara is ready to send more medical assistance and food aid to help Lebanon following the blast, which claimed more than 100 lives and injured thousands, causing severe material damage as well.
Arısoy told Anadolu Agency (AA) that LimakPort İskenderun is ready to support Lebanon with its capacity and service quality as an alternative to the Port of Beirut, which is expected to be out of use for a while after the explosion.
“LimakPort İskenderun, with its 1 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers, 4 million tons of bulk cargo, 15,000 square meters (nearly 161,500 square feet) of storage area with a 200,000-vehicle capacity, along with 1 millionsquare-meter (247-acre) area has enough capacity for extra shipments to come for Beirut,” he said.
LimakPort İskenderun has two linear docks, one 552 meters (604 yards) long and the other 370 meters (405 yards) long, and double-sided parallel ports 260 meters (284 yards) in length. “It can accept vessels up to 400 meters (1,310 feet) long and 160,000 GRT (gross registered tons) with a total dock length of 1,442 meters (4,731 feet) and a water depth of 15.5 meters (50 feet),” Arısoy said.
Noting that İskenderun is approximately 400 kilometers (248 miles) away from Beirut, Arısoy said that it is possible to reach Beirut in six hours.
Hikmet Çinçin, chairman of the Antakya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO), also noted that they are ready to support the country by all means possible, noting that İskenderun is an important port region and has also served as a critical logistics base in other crises.
The Port of Beirut is the largest shipping and clearing point in Lebanon, through which approximately 70% of the incoming and outgoing trade traffic to and from the country passes, according to the port’s website.