NYN | News
The head of the Shipping Office in Israel has reported a deterioration in the conditions at the ports of the occupying entity, confirming that 40% of cargo ships now refuse to sail to Israel. He noted that the situation has worsened after the forces of the Sana’a government closed the port of Eilat and as risks have escalated at the Haifa port due to the ongoing tensions with Hezbollah.
On Wednesday, the Hebrew site “Walla” published a report stating that the “closure of the Eilat port since last November due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea has resulted in the diversion of goods that used to arrive there to the ports of Haifa and Ashdod. However, with the increasing risks, more ship owners are refusing to send their vessels to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean.”
The report quoted Yoram Ziv, head of the Israeli Shipping Office, saying: “Currently, 40% of general cargo ships refuse to sail to Israel, either due to high insurance costs or because their crews refuse to come here. Additionally, 15% of fuel tankers no longer arrive at Israeli ports, and even some large container ships that used to visit Israeli ports before the war no longer come, and containers are being transported by smaller ships at higher costs.”
Ziv mentioned that he had appealed to Israeli Minister of Transportation Miri Regev and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich to intervene and improve the ports’ readiness for war, warning of potential disruptions at some Israeli ports in the event of an outbreak of war. He called for urgent measures to be taken in this regard.
He added: “The Haifa port is already under restrictions due to its proximity to Lebanon, and we fear that the situation may worsen, weakening the region’s ability to serve Israeli trade, which may transfer all the cargo to the Ashdod port.”
Ziv emphasized the importance of maritime trade for Israel, noting that 100% of its trade and 60% of its GDP rely on the ports. He expressed concern that ships sailing to Israel may be endangered if the current situation persists, stressing the need to ensure the swift handling of ships to encourage them to continue coming.
The head of the Israeli Shipping Office pointed out that ship owners, if forced to wait weeks to unload their cargo, as they have been recently, and become targets in a shooting range controlled by Hamas or Hezbollah, will not come.
The report concluded by noting Ziv’s call to the Israeli Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Finance to allow the Ashdod port to hire additional workers to handle goods efficiently, pointing to a labor shortage at the port due to the conscription of many of its employees into the reserves.
