More than 2 years after port explosion, Lebanon’s navy focuses on rebuilding damaged base

BEIRUT — With international help, the Lebanese military is getting ready to kick off its latest push to rebuild a naval base damaged in the devastating port explosion of 2020, just as its naval force will be needed to help safeguard potential new gas deals that could offer the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation a much-needed financial lifeline.

“The main objective of the restoration is to establish a typical naval base that contains all the life necessities for the military, in addition to all the logistical and operational components, so that the existing and expected vessels in the future can carry out the tasks assigned to them to the fullest,” Navy Commander Senior Capt. Haissam Dannaoui told Breaking Defense in a late January interview. “The rebuilding and expansion work began in coordination and cooperation with teams affiliated with a number of friendly armies, the Engineering Directorate of the Lebanese Army and the Navy.”

On Aug. 4, 2020, a fire set off a massive store of ammonium nitrate in the Port of Beirut, igniting an explosion that ripped through Lebanon’s capital. The blast, which is considered one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, claimed more than 200 lives, destroyed or damaged the city’s infrastructure as well as vital facilities including the Beirut Naval Base.

“Damage at the base included complete destruction of the workshop building, kitchen, and [additional] damage [to] other buildings [including] missing parts and shattered glass and doors. Also, some boats were completely destroyed,” Dannaoui said.

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Some renovation work has been done since the explosion, including the establishment of a marine search and rescue center linked to the Joint Maritime Operations Room and under the command of the commander of the navy, and the construction of marine workshops at the base.

“The construction work for this center is nearing completion. Work is currently underway to equip these buildings,” Dannoui said, while Lebanon meets with donors and financing countries for help with other “infrastructure projects, immunization, construction of medical centers, and specialized buildings.”

But a larger, five-phased reconstruction plan is envisioned, according to a military official, with the first phase expected to be completed by 2025. The timing of each phase will be subject to funding limitations. The official said the phases include the establishment of infrastructure at the base such as water and electric facilities, up to the construction of Pier Zero and a new building for the Naval Forces Command.

The phased reconstruction was supposed to begin in 2021, but Lebanon’s years-long devastating financial crisis hindered efforts. In September 2022 the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) agreed to assist in rebuilding efforts, and just last month the Lebanese military met with experts from USACE in a “design charrette” to sort out next steps, according to a USACE spokesperson. The spokesperson said USACE expects to award a construction contract in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Neither the military official nor the USACE spokesperson said how much money was expected to be involved. (A team from USACE visited Lebanon shortly after the explosion to help conduct damage assessments.)

“The Lebanese financial crisis has significantly curtailed the [Lebanese Armed Force’s] ability to fund military recapitalization,” Aram Nerguizian, senior associate and Emeritus Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Breaking Defense. “As a consequence, donor support becomes that much more critical.”

The rebuilding of the base will be important for Lebanon’s economic future, as the Lebanese navy is charged with, among other tasks, securing the nation’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). And while Lebanon’s navy is small, consisting of 60-something vessels, Nerguizian said it can lean on help from allies like the US, France and Germany through aid packages.

Lebanon’s naval mission “will be achieved by the integration of land, sea and air assets with a capable maneuver force component to achieve the five Ds: detecting threats, disrupting them, denying maritime space to illegal actors, defending the Lebanese maritime flank, and deterrence,” Nerguizian specified.

Dannaoui said that the naval border security and illegal immigration has prompted the Lebanese navy to build a specialized center to include representatives of the security services, ministries concerned with maritime operations, and international non-governmental organizations.

He added that beyond reconstruction, the traditional Beirut Naval Base missions will expand to keep pace with the country’s current and emerging needs.

“When UNIFIL’s work in Lebanon ends in the future, many tasks and responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of the Lebanese navy, which has proven its worth in taking charge and moving forward,” Dannaoui said.

The UNIFIL, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, is a multinational UN force of 48 troop contributing countries, that was commissioned by resolution 1701 2006 after an Israeli invasion of to maintain peace in southern Lebanon. According to the UNIFIL website, 17 percent of activities are carried out jointly with the Lebanese Armed Forces, and UNIFIL is complemented by a five-vessel Maritime Task Force.

Dannaoui noted the Lebanese navy is also crucial to protection Lebanon’s natural resources, including potential future oil installations.

Lebanon is in the process of exploring gas in the Mediterranean after inking a deal in late January with two international oil giants, Total Energies and Italy’s ENI, and state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy. This step was made possible after Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated maritime border agreement ending a years-long dispute.

“The naval base – and its ability to support additional surface assets – is an important component of Lebanon’s prospectus for oil and gas exploration,” Nerguizian said about the future missions of navy.

In February 2022, the navy announced that it will receive Protector-class 27-meter-long coastal patrol boats as military aid from the United States of America.

Lebanon previously held negotiations earlier with French shipbuilders to procure four offshore patrol vessels, each between 65- and 75-meters long. Also, there have been negotiations with the Italian government about a potential donation of frigates.

Those offers, Nerguizian said, are “still on the table, but the Lebanese Armed Forces simply doesn’t have the national resources to purchase and sustain French or Italian naval assets — especially when US surface assets are being funded and granted through US security assistance funding.”

Nerguizian said in his opinion, the navy’s future focus should be the integration of a new maritime operating system in order to achieve a cohesive and credible maritime capability.

Breaking Defense’s Lee Ferran contributed to this report from Washington, DC.