Ashdod port working at full steam until Haifa fully re-opens

Following the order issued last Sunday by the Home Front Command to the Haifa Port authority to evacuate all vessels from the port, until further notice, most ships were diverted to the port of Ashdod.
 
The instruction followed "katyusha" rocket barrage that hit the city on Sunday morning, killing eight people and injuring dozens. The IDF Homefront Command was worried about activity at the Haifa Port, especially about the hazardous materials at the port. In wake of the Haifa port's evacuation, the Ashdod port started preparing for large-scale absorption of cargo and passenger ships.
 
Since last Sunday, the port of Haifa had partly reopened and handled few containerships, yet most of the cargo ships are diverted to Ashdod.
 
Ashdod port management made sure to reinforce manpower and recruit additional employees in order to enable continuous work on the docks. Since Sunday 15 general cargo ships that were originally planned to call at Haifa, were diverted to Ashdod and ships which regularly unload cargo both at Ashdod and Haifa, unloaded all their cargo in Ashdod.
 
Director-general of the Ashdod Port, Shuki Sagis, said: "The Ashdod Port management stands by the workers of the Haifa Port in this difficult hour, and will do their best to assist until the crisis is over."
 
Sagis praised the Ashdod port workers for their willingness to work overtime in order to overcome present difficulties. The Ashdod port authority said last Wednesday it would operate on an emergency 24 hour basis to cope with the extra workload, and would deploy extra manpower.