WASHINGTON: Haifa Port’s Carmel Terminal, Israel, has received a call by the largest ship ever docked in the country. The 13,092 teu Maersk Elba links ports in South Korea, China and Singapore to Haifa Port, continuing from there to the Adriatic ports as part of a weekly service operated by the 2M Alliance, which includes Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). As part of a series of investments carried out to be able to handle bigger ships, the port’s Carmel Terminal recently received five new cranes, including two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes manufactured by Kocks Cranes. The units, which are able to handle 21 containers across, joined six existing STS cranes at the terminal. At the terminal, the Maersk Elba was served by four STS cranes with an average productivity of 136 containers per ship hour.
Additionally, three new rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes from Konecranes became operational in the storage area in January this year, for a total of 15 RMGs at the terminal. Recent investments at Haifa Port also included the adoption of a Navis terminal operating system (TOS). According to a statement by the port’s operating company Haifa Port, the government’s port development arm Israel Ports Company recently deepened the water by the Carmel Terminal to enable larger ships to “reach their maximum draft, or very close to it”. However, as the statement noted, “the next generation of ships, in the order of 18,000 teu and above, will not be able to call in Israel during the next few years”. Haifa Port’s CEO Mendi Zaltzman said: “It is important to remember that these massive [14,000 teu) ships are being serviced at a dock that was originally built to accommodate ships of up to only 6,000 teu.”
