Pan Mediterranean Engineering Ltd. (PMEC) a subsidiary of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a global leading engineering contractor, has signed the contract to build a new port in Ashdod, Israel.
The NIS3.3Bn (US$930M) port will be built about 1km north of the current Ashdod Port.
The agreement was signed in Tel Aviv between the Ministry of Transport and the Israeli company «China Harbor» Ports in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Transport Minister Israel Katz, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhao Yan Feng.
The works include construction of a working quay, extension of the existing main breakwater by 600 meters, construction of 1,500 meters of secondary breakwaters, quays construction (with a main quay 800 meters in length and a 17.3 meter depth of water), construction of the storage and operating areas, and dredging.
Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2014 and will take about seven years to complete. Nearly all of Israel's trade is handled via sea, and the government hopes the new port will turn it into a shipping hub for the eastern Mediterranean.
