THE Israel Ports Company has accepted the bid from the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) to operate a new port in Haifa, reports IHS Maritime 360.
SIPG was awarded the government tender on March 23 to operate the new port for 25 years, which is expected to commence operations in 2021.
The ILS3.96 billion (US$1 billion) port is already under construction by Shapir Engineering and the Ashtrom group at a cost of and SIPG will put in another ILS1 billion before it opens.
Israel planned to build a rail line linking its Red Sea and Mediterranean ports that could handle potential overflow from the Suez Canal on the freight route between Asia and Europe. Once completed, Haifa Port will lie in the centre of this freight route, said the IHS report.
SIPG beat out the Dutch company Til, Germany's Eurogate and Manila-based ICTS.
The largest port in Israel, Haifa handled 26 million tonnes, including 1.36 million TEU in 2013.
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