World Food Programme issues bulker tender to fix Beirut’s grain supplies

The United Nations-backed World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a tender seeking a geared bulk carrier to become Lebanon’s de facto source of grain for the coming weeks.

The deadly blast at Beirut port on August 4 decimated the majority of Lebanon’s grain silos, severely weakening the country’s food supply chains.

The WFP is looking to take a geared bulker on charter to ship grain from the Black Sea to Lebanon and to hold the grain in the country for a month, effectively acting as a temporary replacement floating grain storage.

This week, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been in Lebanon for the second time since the blast. Accompanying him on the tour has been Rodolphe Saade, the chairman of CMA CGM, whose family come from Lebanon. CMA CGM’s roro vessel Aknoul arrived in Beirut this week carrying 2,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

A Lebanese judge leading the probe into Beirut’s deadly port blast issued new arrest warrants on Monday for two officials and three Syrian workers taking the arrests tally to 21.

The World Bank estimates the value of physical damage caused by the explosions that rocked Beirut’s port at between $3.8bn and $4.6bn.