The port of Tripoli announced that it had handled 18,714 containers in October 2026, a volume it presented as a new record. In a press release issued on Monday, November 9, his administration highlights the development of its operational and logistical capabilities. However, the figure is not accompanied by the maximum precedent or a breakdown of traffic.
The port of Tripoli claims a new monthly record
Iskandar Bandali, president of the harbour board of directors, describes this result as a step in the development of the site. It attributes it to efforts to strengthen its competitiveness and attract international shipping companies. The administration believes that the volume of October reflects an increasing confidence of these companies in the port of the North.
In particular, the manager thanked CMA CGM for its contribution to the increase in containerized activity. It underlines the role of this relationship in the development of ports of call and traffic. The press release does not, however, mention the shipowner’s share in the 18,714 containers announced.
The result is for October as a whole, not the day of 9 November alone. No annual or monthly increases are included with the announcement. Nor does the port specify the previous reference volume that would allow the magnitude of the claimed record to be measured.
A unit and distribution of traffic to be specified
The press release uses the term « containers ». It does not specify whether it counts physical units or equivalents twenty feet, the standard unit often used in maritime statistics. It would therefore be premature to present this total as 18,714 TEUs.
Nor is the distribution between imports, exports, empty containers and transhipment provided. This distinction counts to assess the economic benefits. A container movement alone does not provide information on the value of the goods, their final destination or the revenue received by the port.
The statistical series currently available on the port’s official website stop at 2025. They have separate entries for full, empty and transhipment containers. They do not yet provide a table of October 2026 allowing the new total of strictly comparable series to be reconciled.
CMA CGM already links Tripoli to several markets
The relationship with CMA CGM is based on an operational implementation. In 2021, the group announced the acquisition of all the shares of Gulftainer Lebanon, operator of the Tripoli container terminal. This operation therefore precedes the result announced on Monday by several years.
In its current presentation of its services in Lebanon, CMA CGM mentions Phoenician Express, also known as BEX2. This line directly connects Asia to Beirut and Tripoli, then serves the Adriatic ports. The EMED2 service links the two Lebanese ports to other ports in the eastern Mediterranean.
These services place the port in regular exchanges with several markets. However, the documents consulted do not allow for the determination of their respective contributions to the October volume.
The neighbouring economic zone remains a project to be developed
The monthly figure comes after Joseph Aoun’s visit on 24 October to the site of the future industrial and logistical centre of the special economic zone of Tripoli. The authority of this area presents the port as one of the equipment with which the project must be articulated.
Its communiqué states that the pre-qualification of international operators remains in preparation, before a call for tenders. He also stressed the need to close the nearby landfills, which were considered harmful to the attractiveness of the site. The port activity announced Monday therefore concerns an infrastructure already operated; the neighbouring industrial and logistics centre is still waiting for its next stages of development.
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