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SIPG Haifa Bayport Terminal in Northern Isreal Starts Operation.

The release date:2021-09-10 viewed: The shop name:AAA

The opening ceremony to inaugurate Haifa new port was held online simultaneously in Shanghai, China and in Haifa, Israel on September 1 with Ms. Merav Michaeli, Israeli Transportation and Road Safety Minister, saying the new port opened a new gateway to the world. Israel is grateful for the advanced technology, equipment and project management and operation experience brought from Shanghai. She added local residents of Haifa will appreciate the new opportunities the automated port will bring. It will create local prosperity and make a real contribution to Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East.

Dai Yuming, minister counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Israel, said that the new port of Haifa is a microcosm of China-Israel mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

At Shanghai venue, Mr. Zhang Wei, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipal people’s government addressed the ceremony, and Mr. Gu Jinshan,  chairman of SIPG, delivered a speech and announced operation commencement of Bayport Terminal via video link. Mr. Yu Fulin, director general of Shanghai Municipal Transport Committee and Mr. Edward Shapira, Israel's consul general in Shanghai, attended the ceremony. Mr. Yan Jun, President of SIPG, sent good wishes from Shanghai to the new port inauguration. The ceremony was attended by top managers from China Construction Harbor and Channel Engineering Bureau Group,  CCCC Third harbor Consultants, CCCC ZPMC, Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science and container lines including Cosco Shipping, ZIM and MSC that facilitate the kick-off of the new port’s operation. After the ceremony, both Mr. Fang Huaijin, Vice President of SIPG, and Mr.Izak Brumenthal, CEO of Israel Ports Development & Assets Company (IPC) received interviews from the press.

Mr. Zhang Wei, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, said that the cooperation between Shanghai and Haifa has seen a long history, yielded fruitful results and demonstrated huge potential ever since 1993 when the two cities became sister cities and conducted various forms of exchanges and cooperation. In 2019, the China-Israel (Shanghai) Innovation Park was established, providing an important platform for Israeli innovative enterprises to access Chinese market. The opening of SIPG Bayport terminal in Haifa marks a new stage in our cooperation. Zhang stressed that Shanghai, like Haifa, is also a harbor city. The two cities have their own characteristics and advantages. In the future, both cities should seize the opportunities of BRI, further deepen exchanges in economy, trade, science and innovation, ports, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and constantly enhance sister-city relations.

“The construction and operation of the new port at Haifa is one important step in SIPG’s international development,” said Mr. Gu Jinshan, chairman of SIPG, “With the integrated strengths of SIPG and Israel, the automated port, which is Israel’s first new port in 60 years, will become a smarter and greener facility and serve as an important trade link between China and Europe.” Gu said SIPG will try to develop the new port as the benchmark in the East Mediterranean region in terms of competitiveness and influence.

Mr. Yan Jun, president of SIPG, said that with the completion and operation of the Haifa New Port project, Israel has a better and more efficient infrastructure for the import and export of goods. SIPG Bayport Terminal will take serving the economic development of Israel as its top priority and strive to provide more efficient and convenient logistics services for Israel and regions in its vicinity. Yan added that SIPG will make use of its experience in managing world-class container ports to enhance the core competitiveness of Haifa New Port, to strengthen strategic cooperation with international ports and shipping enterprises, to establish a perfect international logistics network, with an aim to build Haifa new port into an important node on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as a strategic connecting point between Shanghai port and Middle East /Europe.

According to Mr. Fang Huaijin, Haifa’s port is the hub of transportation and industries in northern Israel, a railroad junction along the Mediterranean coast, an important part of global shipping, as well as a vital pitch point related to the BRI. The new port’s state-of-the-art technology, a high degree of automation, efficiency, energy savings and top service quality will greatly ease traffic congestion at local ports, and facilitate cargo transportation in a much more efficient and convenient manner. Fang pointed out that the remote operation system and automated equipment applied in Bayport terminal are similar to the ones at Yangshan Port Phase IV in Shanghai port. But SIPG made adjustments to local conditions in terms of the remote connections to trucks, shipping agencies and freight forwarders.

"With the advanced technology and rich experience provided by SIPG, we hope the new port will not only serve Israel's demands, but also become a regional logistics hub to serve gulf countries, or even the whole Middle East," said Izak Blumenthal, CEO of Israel Ports Company.

About Bayport Container Terminal

ISRAEL's Haifa new port, operated by SIPG Bayport Terminal Company, a subsidiary of Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), officially opened on September 1, the first new port opened in the Middle Eastern country for the past 60 years. It is also the first time Chinese enterprises export advanced technology and management experience about smart ports to a developed country as part of its Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

Haifa, a northern Israeli coastal city, is the transportation and industrial center of Israel and a railway hub along the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa Port is the largest port in Israel and one of the largest ports in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Under China's BRI, SIPG won the operating rights of Haifa New Port in 2015, beating international competitors. In 2018, SIPG officially launched the construction project.

Construction on the Haifa New Port Terminal project was planned in two phases. The first was an 805.5-metre shoreline terminal that will have an annual container throughput of more than one million TEU. The second phase will be 715.7 meters long with an annual container throughput of 800,000 TEU. 


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