The company announced that all Hapag-Lloyd employees and representatives were safe and sound.

“There were no Hapag-Lloyd vessels present in the port, but our containers, both laden and empty, most probably have been affected by the blast,” the company stated.

The Port of Beirut has stopped all operations and access to the area is not permitted.

Hapag-Lloyd stated that its vessel, Fleur N, in its Levante Express (LEX) service, would cancel Beirut 's call, which had previously been scheduled for 7 August 2020. The Beirut import cargo loaded on board Fleur N will be delivered to Damietta, Egypt.

APL Norway, working in the East Med Express, will also skip a call to Beirut scheduled for 7 August 2020 and then travel to Tripoli, Lebanon, to discharge the Beirut freight.

The explosion and the ensuing blast in Beirut destroyed almost everything in the harbor and surrounding area up to a distance of 10 km. The magnitude was equal to the earthquake of 4.5 on the Richter scale, the Lebanon-based GAC said in an update. APL Norway will also omit the call to Beirut scheduled for 7 August 2020 and instead move to Tripoli, Lebanon, to discharge the Beirut cargo.

“Multiple deaths and thousands of injuries have been reported, and an unknown number of people are still missing or under the rubble. Most of the city’s big hospitals were severely damaged and are no longer fit to receive any casualties. Field hospitals are being set up in the meantime,” GAC said.

The blast is believed to have originated from a chemical storage facility where an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were ignited. The material was reportedly seized in 2013 from Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged cargo vessel that failed to monitor the port state inspections.

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