{
  "dataset": "Syrian and Lebanese seaports serving Syria-linked trade",
  "last_reviewed": "2026-08-15",
  "verification_note": "Operational status for Latakia and Tartous is from the UN Logistics Cluster access update of 9 March 2026. Investment and capacity figures are drawn from operator announcements (CMA CGM, DP World, AD Ports Group) and trade press. Coordinates are approximate port-basin centroids for mapping purposes only.",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "latakia",
      "name": "Port of Latakia",
      "country": "Syria",
      "iso": "SY",
      "lat": 35.5225,
      "lng": 35.7708,
      "status": "Operational",
      "role": "Primary container gateway",
      "operator": "CMA CGM — Latakia International Container Terminal (LICT)",
      "concession": "30-year concession renewed 1 May 2025",
      "investment_usd": "€200 million (≈ $170m) committed",
      "capacity_now": "250,000 TEU/year",
      "capacity_target": "625,000 TEU/year by end-2026; >1,000,000 TEU/year at full build-out",
      "max_draft": "Upgrading to accommodate vessels of up to 16 m draft",
      "cargo_types": ["Containers", "General cargo", "Project cargo"],
      "free_zone": true,
      "summary": "Syria's main international container terminal, operated by CMA CGM under a renewed 30-year concession with a €200 million modernisation programme.",
      "detail": "LICT handles over 95% of Syria's container volumes, particularly agricultural products and industrial goods. CMA Terminals has operated it since 2009 and signed an amended 30-year concession in May 2025. Under that concession CMA CGM will extend and modernise the terminal, deploy digital operating platforms and advanced cargo-handling systems, and deepen infrastructure to take vessels with a draft of up to 16 metres. Capacity is planned to rise from 250,000 TEU to 625,000 TEU by the end of 2026, with a longer-term target above one million TEU. On 6 November 2025 AD Ports Group signed a joint venture and shareholders agreement to acquire a 20% stake in LICT for AED 81 million (USD 22 million); its container feeder arm GFS is positioned to start East Mediterranean services calling at Latakia. Liner services have been returning — Messina resumed its Syria service with a Latakia call in January 2026. Latakia also hosts an internal free zone and a port free zone.",
      "sources": [
        { "label": "UN Logistics Cluster access update, 9 Mar 2026", "url": "https://logcluster.org/en/alerts/syria-border-crossings-airports-and-ports-updates-9-march-2026" },
        { "label": "AD Ports Group — minority stake in Latakia International Container Terminal", "url": "https://www.adportsgroup.com/en/news-and-media/2025/11/06/ad-ports-group-signs-agreement-with-cma-cgm-group-to-acquire-minority-stake-in-latakia-terminal" },
        { "label": "Lloyd's List — Expansion of Syria's Lattakia port to accelerate", "url": "https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1154591/Expansion-of-Syria%E2%80%99s-Lattakia-port-to-accelerate-with-new-agreement" },
        { "label": "Shipping Australia — CMA CGM to invest €200m in Latakia port expansion", "url": "https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/cma-cgm-to-invest-e200-million-in-latakia-port-expansion/" },
        { "label": "Levant24 — Messina resumes Syria service with Latakia call", "url": "https://levant24.com/news/2026/01/messina-resumes-syria-service-with-latakia-port-call/" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "tartous",
      "name": "Port of Tartous",
      "country": "Syria",
      "iso": "SY",
      "lat": 34.8950,
      "lng": 35.8700,
      "status": "Operational",
      "role": "Multipurpose and bulk gateway",
      "operator": "DP World",
      "concession": "30-year concession signed 13 July 2025 with the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports (GABC)",
      "investment_usd": "$800 million committed over the concession",
      "capacity_now": "Multipurpose — containers, general cargo, breakbulk, ro-ro",
      "capacity_target": "Expanded multi-cargo capacity; logistics zones and inland freight hubs under study",
      "max_draft": "Confirm current berth drafts with GABC / DP World",
      "cargo_types": ["Containers", "General cargo", "Breakbulk", "Roll-on/roll-off", "Bulk"],
      "free_zone": true,
      "summary": "Syria's second seaport, handed to DP World under a 30-year, $800 million concession. Operations commenced February 2026.",
      "detail": "DP World signed a 30-year concession with Syria's General Authority for Land and Sea Ports in Damascus on 13 July 2025, committing $800 million to upgrade infrastructure, expand operational capacity and introduce advanced cargo-handling and digital systems. The project is structured as a Build-Operate-Transfer model and is fully owned by DP World. Operations commenced in February 2026. The plan positions Tartous — Syria's second-largest port — as a multi-cargo regional hub connecting Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, handling containers, general cargo, breakbulk and ro-ro, and complementing existing routes through the Bosporus and Suez. DP World will also explore developing free zones, inland logistics hubs and transit corridors with local stakeholders. Tartous hosts a port free zone and is the coastal terminus of Syria's heavy-crude pipeline system.",
      "sources": [
        { "label": "UN Logistics Cluster access update, 9 Mar 2026", "url": "https://logcluster.org/en/alerts/syria-border-crossings-airports-and-ports-updates-9-march-2026" },
        { "label": "DP World — 30-year deal to develop Syria's Tartus port", "url": "https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-to-develop-syrias-tartus-port-under-landmark-30-year-deal" },
        { "label": "DP World — operations commence at Tartus Port", "url": "https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-commences-operations-at-tartus-port" },
        { "label": "DP World / GABC — accelerating Port of Tartous development plans", "url": "https://www.dpworld.com/en/news/dp-world-syrias-gabc-discuss-accelerating-port-of-tartous-development-plans" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "baniyas",
      "name": "Baniyas Oil Terminal",
      "country": "Syria",
      "iso": "SY",
      "lat": 35.1800,
      "lng": 35.9200,
      "status": "Operational (refinery); terminal capacity tied to upstream supply",
      "role": "Crude and products terminal",
      "operator": "Syrian Company for Oil Transport / Syrian Petroleum Company (state)",
      "concession": "State-operated",
      "investment_usd": "See Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline revival programme",
      "capacity_now": "Adjoining Baniyas Refinery — 125,000 bpd nameplate, operating near 95,000 bpd",
      "capacity_target": "Designated Mediterranean outlet for the Kirkuk–Baniyas crude pipeline (target 2m bpd if fully revived)",
      "max_draft": "Deepwater offshore loading berths",
      "cargo_types": ["Crude oil", "Refined products"],
      "free_zone": false,
      "summary": "Syria's principal oil terminal and largest refinery, and the designated Mediterranean end-point of the Kirkuk–Baniyas crude pipeline.",
      "detail": "The Baniyas Refinery is Syria's largest with a nameplate capacity of 125,000 bpd, currently running at roughly 95,000 bpd because of facility degradation; it resumed full production in May 2026. Baniyas is the Mediterranean terminus of the ~800–850 km Kirkuk–Baniyas crude pipeline, whose rehabilitation Iraq and Syria agreed to pursue in memoranda signed on 17 July 2026. Syria's domestic light-crude system links the Deir ez-Zor fields to Baniyas.",
      "sources": [
        { "label": "Enab Baladi — Baniyas Refinery resumes full production", "url": "https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2026/05/baniyas-refinery-resumes-full-production/" },
        { "label": "Global Energy Monitor — Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipelines", "url": "https://www.gem.wiki/Kirkuk-Baniyas_Oil_Pipelines" },
        { "label": "SyriacPress — Syria and Iraq sign MoUs to revive Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline", "url": "https://syriacpress.com/blog/2026/07/18/syria-and-iraq-sign-two-memoranda-of-understanding-to-revive-kirkuk-baniyas-crude-oil-pipeline/" },
        { "label": "PortsEurope — new oil refinery linked to Baniyas port", "url": "https://www.portseurope.com/new-oil-refinery-in-syria-linked-to-baniyas-port/" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "beirut",
      "name": "Port of Beirut",
      "country": "Lebanon",
      "iso": "LB",
      "lat": 33.9022,
      "lng": 35.5189,
      "status": "Operational",
      "role": "Regional container hub — fastest sea gateway for Damascus by road",
      "operator": "Port of Beirut authority; container terminal under concession",
      "concession": "Container terminal concession — confirm current operator",
      "investment_usd": "Post-2020 reconstruction programme ongoing",
      "capacity_now": "≈1.2 million TEU/year container throughput capacity",
      "capacity_target": "Reconstruction and modernisation ongoing",
      "max_draft": "Deepwater container berths",
      "cargo_types": ["Containers", "General cargo", "Ro-ro", "Passenger"],
      "free_zone": true,
      "summary": "Lebanon's principal port, roughly 100 km from Damascus by road via the Al-Masnaa crossing — the shortest sea-to-capital link available to Syria.",
      "detail": "Beirut carries an annual container throughput capacity of about 1.2 million TEU and remains the deepest-served container facility on the Syrian-Lebanese coast. For Damascus-bound cargo, the Beirut–Al-Masnaa–Damascus road corridor is materially shorter than the Latakia or Tartous inland haul, which is why Beirut has historically functioned as a de facto Syrian gateway. Routing through Beirut requires clearing the Al-Masnaa / Jdeidet Yabous crossing, which operates 24/7.",
      "sources": [
        { "label": "UNIS — Beirut, Lebanon international container port hub", "url": "https://www.unisco.com/international-ports/beirut-lebanon" },
        { "label": "Marine Insight — Major ports in Lebanon", "url": "https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/major-ports-in-lebanon/" },
        { "label": "UN Logistics Cluster access update, 9 Mar 2026 (Lebanon crossings)", "url": "https://logcluster.org/en/alerts/syria-border-crossings-airports-and-ports-updates-9-march-2026" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "tripoli-lb",
      "name": "Port of Tripoli (Lebanon)",
      "country": "Lebanon",
      "iso": "LB",
      "lat": 34.4531,
      "lng": 35.8250,
      "status": "Operational — expansion under way",
      "role": "Designated logistics gateway for Homs and central Syria",
      "operator": "Gulftainer (container terminal concession)",
      "concession": "25-year container terminal concession awarded 2012",
      "investment_usd": "Expansion programme; new 600 m container berth under construction",
      "capacity_now": "Container terminal developed from 400,000 toward 800,000 containers/year",
      "capacity_target": "800,000 containers/year plus a new Container Terminal and Free Market Zone",
      "max_draft": "Confirm berth drafts with the Port of Tripoli authority",
      "cargo_types": ["Containers", "General cargo", "Bulk", "Project cargo"],
      "free_zone": true,
      "summary": "Lebanon's second port, 30 km from the Syrian border, positioned as the Mediterranean outlet for Homs and central Syria.",
      "detail": "The Port of Tripoli covers roughly 3,000,000 m² including a 420,000 m² area reserved for a future Container Terminal and Free Market Zone. Gulftainer holds a 25-year concession awarded in 2012 to develop and operate the container terminal, taking capacity from 400,000 toward 800,000 containers annually; a new 600 m container berth with a 1,200,000 m² rear zone is under construction. Its 30 km proximity to the Syrian border makes it the natural sea outlet for Homs and central Syria — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has described it as the main logistical outlet linking Homs and central Syria to the Mediterranean. Realising that role depends on completing the inland chain: road and rail links to the Syrian interior, a fast customs corridor, and digitised cross-border procedures. Tripoli also hosts the Tripoli Special Economic Zone.",
      "sources": [
        { "label": "UN Logistics Cluster — Digital Logistics Capacity Assessment, Port of Tripoli", "url": "https://lca.logcluster.org/lebanon-212-port-tripoli" },
        { "label": "Tripoli Special Economic Zone — Port of Tripoli", "url": "https://tsez.gov.lb/port-of-tripoli" },
        { "label": "Noon Post — Syria and Lebanon reorder their economic interests", "url": "https://www.noonpost.com/en/379999/" },
        { "label": "Arab Sea Ports — Port of Tripoli", "url": "https://arabseaports.com/lebanon-ports/port-of-tripoli" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}