China’s Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) was chosen as the preliminary winner of a Beirut Port Authority tender for equipping the city’s harbor with nine new giant cranes valued at $21.5 million. The cranes are expected to become operational before the end of 2003, pending final approval.
Slated for privatization, the Port of Beirut generates around $70 million a year from port fees alone. The port posted a 10 percent rise in revenues in 2001 and is expecting a minimum three percent increase in activity this year.
Maritime activity in April 2002 experienced an 11 percent rise in the number of containers to 14,524 and a 31 percent increase in total revenues to $1.7 million compared to the previous month. Freight activity decreased by 15 percent to 350,202 tons compared to March 2002, while the number of vessels visiting the port reached 207 at an average of seven vessels per day. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
