IF Israel's ports do not prepare for cascading of the world's largest containerships in the coming five years despite the country's investment of ILS5 billion (US$1.3 billion), it will face a "sea blockade", according to the major daily Haaretz.

"They simply will not stop here," said director-general of Shipping and Ports Authority, Yigal Maor. "We will simply not appear on the world shipping map. Within five years we will be cut off. Israel will be under a sea blockade."

Expansion of the depth and breadth of port channels will allow anchorage of bigger ships that currently represent eight per cent of cargo ships turned away from Israeli ports. This number is forecast to grow to 12 per cent of vessels with more coming via Suez.

Problems in expanding Israeli port capacity are compounded by the unions in Ashdod and Haifa which oppose plans to privatise. The Israel Ports Company recently gave approval to privatise Red Sea port of Eliat, a tender will be opened for 15 year franchise, with an option for 10 more years.

The country's over reliance on shipping for its trade, 98 per cent of all trade goes by ship, shippers will be forced to pay additional costs of US$400 per TEU to transship using small feeder vessels as Egypt, Turkey and Greece deploy, the newspaper said.



Although the 1990s saw increased investment, it planned for cargo vessels of average capacity 5,000-8,000 TEU to enter its Haifa's Carmel Wharf which had been open for less than two years, and its Jubilee Port in Ashdod running for a year longer. No one forecast the increase in 13,000-TEU megaships, or larger 18,000-TEUers.