Middle EastPorts and Logistics

Shuttered Israeli port seeks financial shield

Israel’s Eilat port is seeking emergency state funding having been shut for all year, coming under regular attacks in the ongoing war with Hamas. 

“The port has been non-operational for eight months due to attacks, meaning it has no revenue,” Gideon Golber, the port’s CEO said yesterday, at a meeting at the country’s parliamentary economic affairs committee. Golber said he wants financial assistance, not loans, to get through the current period of no business. 

The port of Ashdod has said it is willing to take in some workers from Eilat temporarily if the issue of their accommodation in the city is settled.

Eilat mayor Eli Lankri told politicians yesterday: “We have huge plans for the port, but we fear it will die and disappear.”

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said this morning it had launched a drone strike on Eilat. The Houthis have targeted the port repeatedly as well this year. 

The port lies in the south of Israel, neighbouring Jordan’s Aqaba port at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the third largest port in Israel after Ashdod and Haifa. 

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

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