The CMA CGM Group reacted swiftly a day after the devastating explosion that hit Beirut by making arrangements to send a team of first responders and emergency medical equipment. Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, saw the extent of the damage on August 6, during his on-side trip alongside the French President. Through its Foundation, the CMA CGM Group decided to launch a relief operation and make one of its vessels available to transport goods and emergency products free of charge.

The CMA CGM Foundation and all of the Group’s teams were immediately mobilized to coordinate donors and NGOs, take delivery in warehouses, containerize and then load the humanitarian aid onboard the CMA CGM Aknoul.

The “Humanitarian Ship for Lebanon” leaves Marseille

The vessel and its humanitarian cargo left Marseille on Tuesday August 25th for Beirut. Its departure was marked by a ceremony attended by Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, Tanya Saadé Zeenny, President of the CMA CGM Foundation, and representatives of local and national public institutions as well as the donors including companies (Saint-Gobain, Danone), NGOs and humanitarian aid specialists (UNICEF).

2,500 tons of humanitarian aid shipped from Marseille to Beirut

The Aknoul, a CMA CGM ro-ro vessel, has been redeployed from its usual service and left Marseille for Beirut carrying 2,500 tons of humanitarian relief supplies:

• Medical and hygiene equipment: medicine and vaccines, face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, hygiene products, ventilators, healthcare beds, Covid tests and swabs;
• Vehicles: handling equipment and utility vehicles, ambulances, buses, fork-lift trucks;
• Building materials and temporary housing: tents and shelters, cement, glass, steel, timber, doors and false ceilings, power generators;
• Food relief: drinking water, powdered milk and child nutrition products, carbohydrate products.

A large-scale humanitarian operation

In a remarkable demonstration of solidarity, more than 70 donations from French companies, individuals, NGOs, non-profits and French public-sector institutions (hospitals, firefighters, local authorities, government) were received by the CMA CGM Group’s taskforce .

An operation coordinated with the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs for the benefit of vetted Lebanese NGOs

The relief operation led by the CMA CGM Foundation is being coordinated with the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Centre. A combined operations center has been set up in Marseille and Beirut to review requests, identify NGOs and beneficiary organizations, and to arrange transport as rapidly as possible. Each donation is carefully assessed in tandem with the French embassy in Lebanon, which reviews and approves the need and the beneficiary NGO in Beirut. The beneficiary of each donation is thus clearly established. The beneficiaries are well-known given their established activities in Lebanon.