12/20/2023–|Last updated: 12/20/202312:51 AM (Mecca time)
Liberation newspaper said that Israel’s main seaport on the Mediterranean is now avoided by most shipping companies; Due to the war on Gaza and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, its management and customers are afraid of rising prices and prolonging the delivery period.
The newspaper explained – in a report by its correspondent in Ashdod, Frank Bouaziz – that a message saying “Error 404” reminds browsers that it is impossible to view online the docking times for ships in the port of Ashdod, and this is at an urgent request from anti-terrorism services to prevent tracking ships departing or arriving to. Port.
This decision came – as the newspaper says – after a container ship belonging to the Danish shipping company Maersk on its way to Israel was attacked by Houthi rebels. The company subsequently announced that it would no longer use the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is what its main competitors, who Between them, they control about 45% of the global maritime freight transport market, followed by other shipping companies.
Decreased activity
The most important problem with the port of Ashdod in Israel, which has been operating for about 60 years, is that it is less than 30 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip, and therefore sirens are heard there regularly as an indication of the launch of rockets from the Palestinian territories, so that traffic there on the sidewalks has decreased significantly since the 7th of April. Last October, after it was processing between 800,000 and 900,000 containers annually, or 21 million tons of goods in 2022.
From his office located in the unloading cranes axis, the port’s general manager, Eli Bar-Yosef, estimates that activity there has declined by 30%. He explains, “Today we receive 12 to 18 boats daily instead of 30 in normal times,” especially since 100 of the 1,280 employees currently work in the army. And that cruises stopped completely after a promising start.
A few hundred meters away, an importer who has been working with the port for several decades paints a bleak picture, saying, “The decrease in traffic, in my opinion, reaches 50%,” noting that “the mobilization of more than 300,000 reserve soldiers leads to a serious decrease in consumption, and it is Then in purchasing manufactured products, adding, “My warehouses are full of goods.”
Uri Shohat does not seem more optimistic about this supplier. The Overseas company he runs has decreased its activity by 10% due to inflation before the war, but that means nothing compared to air freight, as activity decreased by 90% due to the cessation of service to Tel Aviv Airport from Before the main shipping companies.
Increasing prices
However, the recent attacks carried out by the Houthis greatly worry Uri Shohat. “It is a profound change for us and also for the rest of the world. The boats will now sail around Africa, and additional transportation will be needed for two to three weeks, with a proportional increase in prices,” he said.
Liberation reviewed a document sent by Crown Shipping to its Israeli customers saying, “Given the unstable situation and risks in the current period, we have decided to change our course via the Cape of Good Hope. The ship, which was expected to arrive in Ashdod on December 17, will not arrive.” It arrives until next January 13.”
There is no doubt that insurance companies will also review their prices upward in light of the tensions throughout the region – as the newspaper says – and so “prices will rise so significantly that importers will no longer want to bring goods from Asia, but will buy them at a higher price in Europe.” “Singapore could be the Middle East with its beaches, hotels and casinos,” says Uri Shohat, hoping that Gaza will be freed from the influence of Hamas in the future. “Look at Dubai… they don’t have an army, they only invest in the economy.”