Israeli maritime delegation of top government officials had secretly visited Europe.The Port is used for trading with Far East & East African countries
Local newspapers in Israel published last week that an Israeli maritime delegation of top government officials had secretly visited Europe to hold pre-marketing presentations on privatizing the Red Sea port of Eilat.
The Port is used for trading with Far East & East African countries. It allows Israeli shipping to reach the Indian Ocean without having to sail through the Suez Canal. Ship traffic is comparatively low due to the fact that the port is situated at a considerable distance from the center of the country.
Among the delegation participants are Israel Ports Development & Assets Company CEO Shlomo Brieman, Government Companies Authority senior deputy director Meir Shamra, and the head of the Israel maritime administration at the Transport Ministry, Yigal Maor.
The delegation visited Rotterdam Port and met officials of APM Terminals a global port operator. (a sister company of Danish global shipping Maersk Line, which runs the container port east to Eilat, in Aqaba, Jordan).
The delegation visited Hamburg, Germany, where meetings were held with people from the ports operation HHLA (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik ). The delegation was trying to trace general guidelines for the port's privatization and hear professional opinions from global port operators about the best way to privatize the government company.
