France's CMA CGM is dispatching a vessel to help with humanitarian relief in the Lebanon crisis.
The liner company said one of its ro-ro vessels will be deviated from its usual service in the Mediterranean.
The vessel will sail from CMA CGM's home port of Marseilles to Beirut with a cargo of medical equipment and essential goods.
CMA CGM will bear the shipping and port operational costs as well as provide a storage facility in Marseilles until the vessel departs.
CMA CGM is providing the vessel in what it has tagged "A boat for Lebanon" campaign.
"With this operation, we will deliver essential equipment to the Lebanese people. Thank you to CMA CGM's teams, [and] to the institutions and companies that are mobilising for Beirut," chief executive Rodolphe Saade said on Twitter.
Part of the humanitarian aid will come from the CMA CGM Foundation, a charitable organisation chaired by CMA CGM executive officer Tanya Saade Zeeny.
The company will set up an operation unit in Marseilles and Beirut to organise transport of humanitarian aid.
Hard hit
CMA CGM was hard hit by the deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital.
Its Beirut headquarters, located a few hundred metres from the site of the explosion, were severely damaged.
One of the 261 staff members that CMA CGM employed in Lebanon was killed and two others were seriously injured.
Many of its workers suffered minor injuries.
The tragedy prompted Saade to fly to the country of his birth on Thursday last week in show of solidarity with its Lebanese staff.
