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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 7 April 2020:
A cargo shipping line between Tunisia and Libya is to be launched in the second week of April, Tunisia’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics revealed. The service is for Tunisian goods destined for Libya but currently stalled due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) curfews and border closures in both countries.
The Ministry called for “coordination with the Sfax port administration to see practical procedures to secure the transfer of their exports to Libya, after it coordinated between the maritime carriers working on Tunisian ports and Tunisian exporters interested in the Libyan market, to provide cargo shipping services to ensure the flow of cargo between Tunisia and Libya.”
The Ministry said in a statement on Monday that ‘‘an agreement was reached with one of the maritime carriers to organize weekly service to transport Tunisian exports, by container ship, between the port of Sfax and the port of Tripoli’’.
The first trip will be scheduled during the second week of April, starting from the port of Sfax, with the maritime carrier ready to operate a regular sea line between the two ports, subject to sufficient volume of cargo.”
The Ministry added that the move comes as part of “supporting Tunisian exporters and urging them to seek new markets, facilitate international transfers and develop trade relations between Tunisia and Libya, following measures taken at border crossings to counter the spread of the CORONA virus”.
