A new container terminal run by China’s Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) is opening this year just up the coast and Haifa port will have to be upgraded to compete. Final offers are expected around October, an official with the Government Companies Authority (GCA), which is handling the sale, told Reuters. Contenders come from Israel, Europe, India and the United Arab Emirates, which only last year normalised ties with Israel. The GCA official said the sale was “an orderly, international process”, adding: “geopolitics is not a factor”. “We want the port of Haifa to become a major port for general cargo, cars, roro (roll-on/roll-off ships) and cruise (liners),” DAO Shipping’s CEO Danny Ungar told Reuters.

Source: MetroXpress August 09, 2021 09:22 UTC