France shipping company renews contract to run Latakia port, despite EU sanctions on Syria

A French shipping firm has renewed its contract with Syrian regime authorities at Latakia port, despite ongoing sanctions by the European Union against Damascus and those who conduct deals with it.

According to media outlet, Syria Report, the French shipping company, CMA CGM, has recently renewed its contract to help run Syria’s Latakia port, which was due to expire in September before the regime invited the company to bid for a renewal.

As the world’s third-largest container shipping company, the firm reportedly controls 99 per cent of the Latakia International Container Terminal (LICT), in a management that began in 2009 after the signing of a contract to manage the port’s operations for up to ten years.

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The first renewal contract was then signed in 2019, making this year’s signing the second such renewal of its contract with the port and the Syrian regime.

Both renewals were in apparent violation of sanctions imposed by the EU against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, its affiliated businesses and figures, and any around the world who conduct deals with it, reportedly resulting in CMA CGM having faced previous danger of US sanctions over the years, such as when it was forced to pull out of its operations in Iran back in 2018.

Despite that, the company insists on its website that it “strictly comply with regulations adopted by the international community such as but not limited to, the UN Resolutions, the EU regulations on restrictive measures against Syria as well as US Regulations governing shipments to/from Syria”.

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