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Tripoli, 16 October:
The Naples-based shipping giant Grimaldi routed one of its container vessels to Tobruk on Sunday, in a promising sign of increased commercial interest in the eastern town.
The company does not have Tobruk on its list of regular routes, but is reported to have received a sufficient accumulation of orders to warrant the visit.
Port authorities say that some 900 used cars were amongst the goods offloaded, ordered by merchants from all over Libya.
Tobruk is gradually becoming a more serious commercial destination, and the General Department of Ports is said to be considering plans to help develop facilities there in order to consolidate that position.
Tomorrow, two commercial delegations from Italy will arrive in Libya, and both have Tobruk on their list of scheduled destinations.
Not all of the increased economic activity is good news, however. In recent months, Tobruk is also believed to have become a favoured terminus for smuggled goods en-route to Egypt, owing to comparatively low levels of monitoring of goods in and out of the town and its proximity to the border. [/restrict]
