Air Freight News

CMA CGM Group expresses deepest emotion and solidarity towards its on-site staff and all of the Lebanese people

Aug 05, 2020

The CMA CGM Group is extremely saddened by the terrible accidents that occurred in Beirut on Tuesday, August 4th. We would like to express our deepest solidarity with all the Lebanese people.

Deeply rooted in Lebanon, the CMA CGM Group has launched an emergency plan to conduct a thorough health and safety assessment of its 261 staff members based in Beirut. At this stage, the preliminary toll shows two seriously injured and many minor injuries. One member of our staff at the port is currently missing. We are doing our utmost to locate him, in collaboration with local authorities.

The Group's headquarters in Lebanon, located a few hundred meters from the site of the explosion, was severely damaged. The CMA CGM LYRA (11,400 TEU), which was in operation on Tuesday evening, was located 1.5 km from the site of the explosion. None of the crew was injured. The vessel was not damaged.

Mobilization of the Group's maritime and logistics expertise with a business continuity plan

CMA CGM, with its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, immediately offered the Lebanese and French governments logistics and maritime assistance in order to respond to the emergency. The Group is ensuring everything is in place to guarantee perfect business continuity and to maintain the supply of primary necessities to the country.

An operational organization has been put in place to establish a logistics hub in Tripoli. All ships are diverted to Tripoli or other terminals in the region until further notice. In order to maintain business continuity, the Group has organized three recovery sites, of which two are in Beirut and one in Tripoli.

In closing, we would like to salute the solidarity expressed by the Group's staff members and partners around the world.

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