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Maersk and MSC add 2M call in Israel

Maersk and MSC add 2M call in Israel
Israel’s Haifa port has taken the country’s first call from the 2M Alliance’s AE12/TP2 loop, from 10,000 teu vessel Gustav Maersk, the largest ever to dock at an Israeli port.

The new call connects Israel with further capacity for imports from East Asia, and the route is set to become Israel’s largest and most important trade route besides Western Europe, with the Israel Shipping & Ports Authority now expecting Haifa Port to handle an annual 200,000 teu through weekly calls from 2M Alliance ships.

"We are very proud of the fact we have been selected, and we are already preparing to accommodate this line in cooperation with other parties such as the Customs Authority and the cargo division of Israel Railways, so that we can provide the very best services to the shipping companies as well as importers and exporters,” said Haifa Port ceo Mendi Zaltzman. “This is a great challenge for Haifa Port and all its workers."

The news follows the setting of a new port-wide record for productivity a month ago, when Haifa recorded output of 318.8 containers per ship hour. The record for a single crane was also broken when the crew operating crane G21 averaged 74.7 containers per crane hour.

“We welcome any opportunity to demonstrate our outstanding capabilities to shipping line decision makers worldwide,” said Zaltzman at the time.

From the beginning of October, AE12\TP2 route will begin at the port of Busan, calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, and Singapore, and from there to Port Said and Haifa Port. After calling at Haifa, the ships continue on to several ports in the Adriatic: Koper (Slovenia), Trieste (Italy), and Rijeka (Croatia).