A ship carrying 6 trucks loaded with oxygen arrived at the Port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon on Monday morning, the National News Agency reported.
The shipment, which arrived aboard the Lebanese RIMAR cargo ship, contains 22 tonnes of oxygen.
The Port’s director, Ahmed Tamer, stated that administrative agencies, port apparatus, and security and customs personnel were providing the necessary facilities to unload the vessel and enable the trucks “to reach Lebanese hospitals at the required speed.”
Tamer also announced that another Lebanese ship, MED BRIDGE, would reach the Port on Monday night, carrying 14 additional trucks loaded with oxygen to be delivered to hospitals.
The total amount of oxygen that Lebanon will have received from both ships is 450 tonnes.
These shipments come less than a week after caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced from Syria that Lebanese hospitals were suffering from a dangerous shortage of oxygen.
The surprise announcement was followed by a controversial 75-tonne oxygen donation from the Syrian authorities to Lebanon.
The oxygen shortage, according to the head of the Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon, resulted from the hindered ability of a factory in Syria to continue sending the vital substance to Lebanon.
