Israel Ports Company presented $6b master plan for Israel’s ports sector

 The plan states that, in order to meet anticipated demand in the year 2055, a 9,200-meter pier will be needed as well as a new terminal 600 meter wide
 
Israel Ports Development & Assets Company presented last week to Minister of Transport, Shaul Mofaz, a $6 billion master plan for the development of the Israeli maritime port sector over the next 50 years.
 
The first phase of the strategic plan which calls for the investment of USD 700 million in the construction of a 1,000-meter long and 600-meter wide new terminal suitable for very large ships, by 2015, was drafted by the Israel Ports Development & Assets Company in close co-operation of the Dutch Royal Haskoning Company, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research institute, consulting companies TASC and YTD and others.
 
The master plan does not say whether the new terminal will be built at the Ashdod Port or Haifa Port. The Israel Ports Company said the site would be selected after an examination of the assets of each of the ports, which will include environmental considerations, public beach space, security zones, and the proximity of power stations and fuel facilities.
 
The plan states that, in order to meet anticipated demand in the year 2055, a 9,200-meter pier will be needed. However, present and planned piers are a maximum of 3,300 meters long.
 
Mr. Shlomo Brieman, the Ports Company CEO, said that 98% of Israeli trade goes through the ports, and that trade doubles every ten years. Global container traffic is also growing by more than 10% a year, following the introduction of innovative very large containerships that have double the container capacity of existing ships.
 
Minister of Transport Shaul Mofaz said in a press conference that “Israel’s economy is an island economy based on import and export by sea, and therefore we must invest in developing our ports,” Mofaz added that “The port master plan suits the demands of the economy and the international transport of goods. In the future, Israel will be a gateway or a hub to the Middle East: Ships will unload their cargo at the Haifa and Ashdod ports, and from there they will be transported by a network of fast trains to Jordan and the entire Arab world.”