 Israel claimed that the ships were being used to infiltrate Palestinian guerrillas into Lebanon and warned that the Larnaca-Juniyah link would be closed altogether if the vessels continued to carry Palestinian fighters.Although the shipping industry witnessed some past downturns however current numbers show increasing records and expanding activities.Lebanon’s Port of Beirut TEU activity up to July, 2008 reached 287,898 TEUs, representing an increase of 16% from the same period last year.