A French medical aid of 20 containers of 55 tonnes of medical equipment including nearly 5 million FFP2 masks and 1,800 consumables for respirators will be sent to Tunisia from the port of Marseille in the coming weeks, Oussama Yakra, General Manager of CMA CGM Tunisia, told TAP.
Specifying that the first container has already arrived Thursday morning at the port of Rades on board a CMA CGM group ship, Yakra said that other containers will follow in the coming weeks.
Yakra added that “this large-scale operation is coordinated by the CMA CGM Foundation and the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs aims to meet the urgent needs of Tunisian health facilities that are facing a very strong epidemic rebound.
According to him, “the CMA CGM Group, which initially contributed to this aid through the CMA CGM Foundation, will also ensure the transport of the containers in question from the port of Marseille to the port of Rades”.
Yakra also indicated that the CMA CGM group is one of the biggest players in the field of container shipping and logistics in general. Present in 160 countries through 755 offices, 110,000 employees and a fleet of 566 vessels, CMA CGM serves 420 of the world’s 521 commercial ports and operates on 257 maritime routes.
“In Tunisia, the CMA CGM Group has been in existence for more than ten years. We are the number one container carrier in Tunisia and we operate from the four main Tunisian ports of Rades, Bizerte, Sousse and Sfax. We make 7 departures per week from Tunisia», he went on saying.
Yakra also recalled that “CMA CGM Tunisia has opened, last year, a direct line to Libya from Sfax, following the closure of land borders because of the pandemic and on request of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics. The Group’s Tunisian subsidiary employs 80 people.
Asked whether the group is ready to further develop its presence in Tunisia through other investments, Yakra replied that “CMA CGM Tunisia is closely monitoring all developments in the maritime and logistics sector. We are ready to seize all opportunities that arise because we define ourselves first and foremost as a logistics partner of Tunisia.

Source: TAP News Agency