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The Port of Haifa ( he, נמל חיפה) is the largest of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's three major international
seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...
s, the others being the
Port of Ashdod The Port of Ashdod ( he, נמל אשדוד) is one of Israel's three main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment significantly enhanced the c ...
, and the
Port of Eilat The Port of Eilat ( he, נמל אילת) is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. History The Port of Eilat was declared in 1952, and constructed between 1952-56. Today it is mainly used for trad ...
. It has a natural deep-water
harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
, which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean in terms of freight volume and handles about 30 million tons of cargo per year (not including Israel Shipyards' port). The port employs over 1,000 people, rising to 5,000 when cruise ships dock in Haifa. The Port of Haifa lies to the north of
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
's downtown quarter on the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
, and stretches to some three kilometres along the city's central shore with activities ranging from
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, industrial and commercial next to a nowadays-smaller
passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. Th ...
cruising facility.


History

Haifa Bay The Bay of Haifa or Haifa Bay ( he, מפרץ חיפה, ''Mifratz Heifa''), formerly Bay of Acre, is a bay along the Mediterranean coast of Northern Israel. Haifa Bay is Israel's only natural harbor on the Mediterranean. ''Haifa Bay'' also re ...
has been a refuge for mariners since prehistoric times. When the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
conquered Haifa in the year 1100, it became an important town and the main port for
Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
, the capital of the
Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
. The port fell into disrepair during the
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
reign, and acquired the reputation of a pirate lair in the 18th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century,
Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...
served as the main port for the region. However, the port eventually became clogged with silt, and was unable to accommodate large ships. The first person to comprehend the tremendous possibilities of a port in Haifa was
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...
, the father of
Political Zionism The principal common goal of Zionism was to establish a homeland for the Jewish people. Zionism was produced by various philosophers representing different approaches concerning the objective and path that Zionism should follow. Political Zioni ...
, who in 1902 wrote a prophetic description of the town in his book ''AltNeuland''. Construction of the port began in 1922, and it was officially opened on 31 October 1933 by Lieut. Gen. Sir Arthur Wauchope, the British High Commissioner for Palestine. The port allowed Haifa to blossom, and in 1936, the city had over 100,000 inhabitants. The port was a gateway for thousands of immigrants to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. With Israel’s western borders the Mediterranean and the eastern borders sealed by its
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
neighbors, Haifa served as a crucial gateway to the rest of the world, and helped
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
develop into an economic power. Today the port brings both passenger and cargo traffic to a bustling metropolis, much as
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...
predicted over a century ago. The port has been the scene of two fatal sinkings. The ''Patria'' disaster in 1940 killed 267 people; the loss of in 2007 killed two.


Facilities

The Port of Haifa contains many cargo terminals, and is capable of servicing many ships at once. A modern 17-lane truck gate facility can handle multiple cargo vehicles exiting the port simultaneously. A railroad freight terminal is located inside the port that in 2018 handled transporting about 221,000 containers to and from the port by rail, in addition to general cargo. The port also features a passenger terminal, fishing
wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locati ...
, yacht club, sports marina, large grain silos, and a chemicals terminal. In 2018, the port processed nearly 30 million tons of cargo including 1.46 million TEUs, as well as 240,000 passengers. The port opened the first phase in the "Carmel Port" expansion program in 2010 that involved the construction of a new cargo terminal which includes a 700m long wharf capable of handling 15,500 TEU container ships with a maximum draft of 15.2m, as well as the opening of a secondary wharf plus adjacent support and storage areas. The new facilities expand the port's annual container handling capacity by 500,000 TEU. Construction of this new terminal cost NIS1.8 billion (appx. US$500 million) and took five years to complete. The Port maintains facilities for the
United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...
.


Israel Shipyards port

Israel Shipyards Israel Shipyards is one of the largest shipbuilding and repair facilities in the eastern Mediterranean. The company also operates the first and only privately owned port in Israel. The company’s facilities are located at the Kishon Port (part ...
, near the port, provides heavy ship repair facilities. The company also operates a private port on its premises which in 2017 handled approximately three million tons of cargo, consisting of mostly bulk and general cargo.


Passenger terminal

The port contains a modern passenger terminal serving cruise and ferry passengers. The terminal offers a waiting area,
duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...
, souvenir shop, cafeteria, VAT reimbursement counter, currency exchange, free wireless internet, parking, as well as other services to travelers. The area near the terminal also offers excellent
public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
connections for passengers. The Haifa Center Railway Station is adjacent to the terminal and is served by nearly 200 passenger trains 24 hours a day on weekdays to the Haifa region and beyond. Additional public transit connections are available by bus or taxi at the railway station or on Ha'Atsma'ut Road, the main thoroughfare in downtown Haifa which is located in front of the station. The
Carmelit The Carmelit ( he, כַּרְמְלִית Arabic: كرمليت) is an underground funicular railway in Haifa, Israel. Construction started in 1956 and ended in 1959. It is the oldest underground transit system in the Middle East and currently th ...
's ''Kikar Paris'' subway station is also within walking distance and allows convenient access to the top of
Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/ Elijah), is a ...
.


Expansion

As of 2018, the
Israel Port Authority The Israel Ports Authority (רשות הספנות והנמלים) is the governmental agency which supervises and regulates the operation of Israel's seaports in Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat. It is located in Tel Aviv. History The authority was set up ...
is managing the construction of the first phase of a major expansion of the port at a cost of NIS 4 billion (approximately US$1.1 billion). The plan involves the following: *Extensive reclamation of an area northeast of the mouth of the
Kishon River The Kishon River ( he, נחל הקישון, ; ar, نهر المقطع, , or , – ''the river of slaughter'' or ''dismemberment''; alternative Arabic, ) is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea near the city of Haifa. Cou ...
which will enable the construction of a large new terminal to be named the "Bay Terminal" that will be capable of handling giant container ships carrying more than 15,000 TEUs each. *Extension of the main breakwater by 880 metres and construction of a new secondary breakwater. *A new fuels terminal, replacing the existing one which dates back to the 1940s. *Expansion of the existing chemicals terminal. *A dedicated freight railway terminal on the grounds of the new shipping terminal, as well as connecting the adjacent Israel Shipyards facilities to the rail network. The new container terminal was built by the Israeli construction firms Ashtrom and Shapir Marine & Civil Engineering and officially inaugurated on 1 September 2021. Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) won an international tender to operate the new terminal for a period of 25 years on completion. In its initial phase the Bay Terminal will be capable of handling 800,000 TEU container movements annually and planned future expansions to the terminal could handle up to an additional 700,000 TEU. In July 2022, the Israeli government announced that the Haifa port sold to winning bidders
Adani Ports & SEZ Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (Adani Ports & SEZ; also APSEZ) formerly known as Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited, is an Indian port operator. APSEZ represents a large network of ports with India's largest SEZ at Mu ...
and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.20 billion).


See also

*
Gilla Gerzon Gilla Gerzon ( he, גילה גרזון), known to many United States military personnel as the "mother of the 6th fleet,"Brill, Arthur P., Jr"Expeditionary USO,"''Sea Power'', Oct 1997, retrieved September 20, 2012 is an Israeli who served as dir ...
(Information on Haifa USO)


References


External links


Port of Haifa official websiteInformation for cruise passengers
{{Authority control 1933 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Economy of Haifa Geography of Haifa Tourism in Haifa Transport in Haifa
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...