After a trial run lasting several months, SIPG (Shanghai International Port Group), the Chinese company that operates the new privately-owned Haifa Bayport, has signed a contract with Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. for the first shipping line to use the port fully for loading and unloading of containers, Trend reports with reference to Globes.
The line is Zim’s ADX (Adriatic Express Service) line that serves ports in the Adriatic. It visits the Port of Koper in Slovenia, Venice, Ravenna, and Izmir. The first ship on the line will be the Arison, which is due to visit Haifa Bayport on December 29.
The start of full-scale operations at Haifa Bayport marks the change in cargo ports in Israel with the entry of two privately-owned container ports into operation on the Mediterranean coast, at Haifa and Ashdod. Up to now, ADX line ships docked at the state-owned Haifa Port. In its notification to its customers, Zim portrayed the change as a positive one from their point of view: “The switch of the line to the new port will facilitate much greater operating flexibility, will ease the crowding at Israel’s ports, and thereby improve the standard of service to our customers,” Zim’s letter states. Zim does have five other lines that use the Haifa Port.
