The port authority for the Port of Haifa is the Israeli Ports and Railway Authority. The organization was created in 1961 when the Ports Authority Law was amended to merge Israel's railways into the national ports authority agency. The Israeli Ports and Railway Authority is empowered as a government-owned corporation to acquire rights, enter into agreements, and act as a litigant. The authority plans, constructs, manages, maintains, and operates the ports and railways within Israel and the Port of Haifa. Israel's Transport Minister recommends 17 members to the Ports Authority Council who are approved by the Government. The Council includes ten representatives of the public and seven representatives of government ministries.
The Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd. (IPC) is responsible for developing the country's three commercial seaports which include the Port of Haifa, Eilat, and Ashdod. The IPC provides infrastructure to support efficient and competitive operations for international maritime trade. The IPC is also the country's landlord for port property.
The Port of Haifa is located on a natural protected bay on Israel's northern coast. Since early 2005, the Port of Haifa has operated as an independent government corporation with operational priorities of increasing professionalization and improving customer services.
The Port of Haifa is Israel's biggest and foremost port. Located on the busy Suez Canal shipping route, The Port of Haifa has modern state-of-the-art container terminals that operate 24 hours a day 365 days per year. The Port of Haifa handles all types of cargo including containers, bulk and general cargo, fuel, and chemicals. Shippers can access the Port of Haifa without entering the city, and it is located near the country's new highway system. The Port of Haifa is served by the Israel Rail lines.
The Port of Haifa served 2602 commercial vessels in 2011 carrying 21.8 million tons of cargo. Local container (8.2 million tons) traffic accounted for 40% of all cargo moving through the Port of Haifa in 2011. Container transshipments (over 5.6 million tons) represented 27% of the total cargo volume in the Port of Haifa. Oil (2.8 million tons or 14%) and bulk grain (2.7 million tons or 13%) were also major cargoes in the Port of Haifa in 2011. The Port of Haifa also handled more than 1.4 million tons of bulk cargo and one million tons of liquid chemicals, representing 6% and 5% of cargo volume, respectively. In 2011, the Port of Haifa handled more than 1.2 million TEUs of containerized cargo. In 2012, the Port of Haifa had a record year in container traffic, reaching almost 1.4 million TEUs, an 11% increase over 2011 and an 8% increase over the previous record set in 2010.
The Port of Haifa covers 70 hectares of land, and the port basin covers 200 hectares of water surface. Two breakwaters protect the Port of Haifa: the main breakwater to the northwest is 2826 meters (9272 feet) long, and the lee breakwater is 765 meters (2510 feet) long. The entrance channel between the breakwaters is 183 meters (600 feet) wide and 13.8 meters (45.3 feet) deep. Vessels with draft to 13 meters (42.7 feet) can safely anchor in the Port of Haifa.
The Port of Haifa employs a wide range of equipment to safely and efficiently move cargo, which include 18 35-ton STS gantry cranes, 27 35-ton rail-mounted gantry cranes, and 16 portal cranes ranging in capacity from 15 to 35 tons. The Port of Haifa has 83 ship-to-shore and rail-mounted spreaders, 14 reach stackers, 24 FLT spreaders, 34 grabs, and 11 bulk hoppers. There are 37 mobile workshops and tractors in the Port of Haifa and six pallet jacks. In addition to five log loaders, the Port of Haifa is equipped with 90 yard tractors, 104 forklifts (with from 2.5 to 45 ton capacity), and 213 trailers.
- Container terminals
The Port of Haifa's Carmel Terminal is Israel's biggest, most modern, and environmentally friendly container terminal. The Carmel Terminal began operations in 2011 with the capacity for moving one million TEUs per year, doubling the Port of Haifa's container capacity and decreasing container vessel waiting times dramatically.
With alongside depth of 15.5 meters (50.9 feet), the Port of Haifa's Carmel Terminal has berthing distance of 700 meters (2296 feet) and can accommodate two container ships with capacity to ten thousand TEUs at one time. There are five thousand storage cells, including 594 cells for refrigerated containers, in the Port of Haifa. The Carmel Terminal in the Port of Haifa also has a storage area for containers with hazardous cargo.
This Port of Haifa terminal is equipped with seven 40-ton super-post-Panamax gantry cranes with over-quay reach of 35 meters (115 feet), below-quay reach of 14 meters (45.9 feet), and boom outreach of 55 meters (180 feet). The Carmel Terminal in the Port of Haifa also has 12 35-ton rail-mounted gantry cranes.
The Eastern Terminal in the Port of Haifa contains the Eastern and Western Quays and employs state-of-the-art technology to assure efficient and cost-effective services to customers. The Port of Haifa's Eastern Terminal has berthing distance of 960 meters (3048 feet) with alongside depth of 24 meters (43 feet). There is a 40-hectare container yard at the Eastern Terminal that can accommodate 15 thousand TEUs, and the terminal has cold storage facilities for 400 refrigerated containers. The Port of Haifa's Eastern Terminal can process 1.2 million TEUs per year and is expanding to accommodate an additional 1500 TEUs.
The Eastern Terminal in the Port of Haifa is equipped with six 35-ton Panamax gantry cranes with 65-ton heavy-lift capacity and over-quay reach of 30.7 meters (101 feet), below-quay reach of 11.3 meters (37.1 feet), and boom outreach of from 33 to 41 meters (108 to 134 feet). The Port of Haifa's Eastern Terminal also has four 35-ton post-Panamax gantry cranes with heavy-lift capacity for 65 tons. These cranes have over-quay reach of 32 meters (105 feet), below-quay reach of 14 meters (46 feet), and boom outreach of 46 meters (151 feet). The Eastern Terminal in the Port of Haifa is equipped with 13 35-ton rail-mounted gantry cranes and two rail-mounted stacking cranes in its Intermodal Yard. The Intermodal Yard at the Eastern Terminal in the Port of Haifa is served by two 225-meter (738-foot) rail tracks and two transtainers.
The Port of Haifa's Western Terminal covers about ten hectares and has storage capacity for about 700 TEUs of containerized cargo. The Western Terminal has berthing distance of 400 meters (1312 feet) with alongside depth of 10.5 meters (35 feet). The Western Terminal in the Port of Haifa is equipped with two 35-ton gantry cranes with over-quay reach of 28.5 meters (93.5 feet) and below-quay reach of 7.5 meters (24.6 feet). The terminal also has two 35-ton portal cranes. There are two berths at the end of the west quay for roll-on/roll-off vessels. These Port of Haifa berths have adjacent storage areas designed for tractors, trailers, and semi-trailers.
- Bulk and breakbulk terminals
Built by the British in the 1930s, the Central Terminal is the oldest of the Port of Haifa's piers. Located near downtown Haifa, the Central Terminal is used for general and roll-on/roll-off cargo and for cruise and passenger vessels. The cargo berths at the Port of Haifa's Central Terminal have berthing distance of 723 meters (2372 feet) with alongside depths from 7.5 to 9.2 meters (24.6 to 30.2 feet). The Central Terminal's passenger berths have berthing distance of 100 meters (328.1 feet) with alongside depths from 9.3 to 13 meters (30.5 to 42.7 feet).
The grain terminal in the Port of Haifa is located in the main port area. Operated by "Dagon" Israel Granaries Company Ltd., the grain terminal contains one pneumatic and two mechanical elevators with storage capacity for 90 thousand tons of grain. With throughput capacity of about 1800 tons per hour, the elevators unload ships to the silo via a system of conveyor belts protected by a concrete bridge. About 15 thousand tons of stored grain can be moved from the silo to railcars or trucks each day. The Port of Haifa's grain terminal offers services that include fumigation, dust extraction and separation, sorting, sampling, and weighing.
- Oil / Liquid terminals
The Port of Haifa has several facilities for handling and storing chemicals and oils. The Northern Chemical Terminal in the Port of Haifa is located on land in the Kishon Zone near local chemical industry facilities and away from populated areas. The Port of Haifa's Northern Terminal can accommodate three tankers at the same time, offering berthing distance of 475 meters (1558 feet) and alongside depths from 8 to 11 meters (26.2 to 36.1 feet).
Facilities at the Northern Terminal in the Port of Haifa include a dedicated underground piping system that delivers methanol, aromatic chemicals, MtBE, and GPM to nearby plants. The Northern Terminal also has facilities for storing and delivering ammonia and ethylene. Specialized firefighting personnel are always available and equipped at the terminal for immediate response to emergencies.
Operated by Gadot Terminals Ltd., the Port of Haifa's Southern Chemical Terminal is located at the Kishon Zone's general cargo quay. The terminal has some 70 storage tanks to handle materials with a flash point above 30°C (86°F). Pipelines connect the storage tanks to the one-ship berth.
Fuel Services Company Ltd. operates an oil terminal in the Port of Haifa to handle imports and exports of refined petroleum products that include aviation fuel, diesel oil, gasoline, kerosene, light and heavy fuel oils, and marine diesel fuel. Fuel Services operates a tank farm in Kiryat Haim with 41 tanks and combined capacity for 937 thousand cubic meters (almost 5.9 million barrels) of crude oil. There are also 16 additional storage tanks with total capacity for 157 thousand cubic meters (over 987 thousand barrels) for storing gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, and light and heavy crude oils.
There is a jetty inside the Port of Haifa for refined oil products. The fuel jetty can accommodate two ships at the same time with drafts from 9.7 to 10.4 meters (31.8 to 34.1 feet). This Port of Haifa fuel jetty can discharge as much as one thousand tons per hour.
Located north of the Port of Haifa in Haifa Bay is a multi-buoy installation for unloading crude oil by submerged pipeline connected to a tank farm. From the tank farm, crude oil is piped to the Haifa Refinery. This Port of Haifa facility can discharge crude oil from tankers at a rate of up to 2500 tons per hour.
- Cruise terminals
The Central Terminal is the Port of Haifa's tourist gateway. Located next to downtown, the central pier serves large passenger vessels and cruise ships with berthing distance of 100 meters (328 feet) with alongside depths from 9.3 to 13 meters (30.5 to 42.7 feet). The quay can accommodate three ships at the same time, and a new finger pier can accommodate two more passenger ships.
The Central Terminal has many conveniences for passengers including a large comfortable waiting area, currency exchange counter, a concourse with a duty-free shop for boarding passengers, services provided by the Ministry of Interior, and many other travel-related services. The terminal supports both cruise ships and ferries serving passengers and vehicles.
The Port of Haifa's Central Terminal is connected by bridge to a major city street and to the railway station adjacent to the port. There are also short- and long-term parking lots next to the terminal that support the passenger terminal and the train station.
- Rail and intermodal connections
The Port of Haifa is directly connected to Israel's national rail network, linked to the south (Jerusalem, Oron, and Dimonah) and to the north (Nahariyah). The Port of Haifa is about 105 kilometers (65 miles) from the Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel-Aviv for international connections, and there are domestic flights available at the local Haifa Airport adjacent to the Port of Haifa.
- Port services
The Port of Haifa offers a variety of services for commercial vessels and passengers. For vessels anchored outside the breakwater and in the bay, a boat service is provided for passengers and crews. The Port of Haifa employs a contractor-operated barge to remove and dispose of bilge water and to provide fresh water to all sailing vessels, and garbage collection services are available for sailing vessels. Visitors to the Port of Haifa have access to a large government hospital with a 24-hour quarantine station.
The Marine Meteorological Unit in the Port of Haifa, a branch of the central Meteorological Service, maintains contact with Israeli ships that conduct on-board meteorological observations and convey information for ships using the port, and recorded weather forecasts are available by telephone or through the Internet.
The Port of Haifa's Marine Division is available at all times to track and report on vessel movements in the port. Marine services offered by the Port of Haifa include pilotage, towing, maneuvering, mooring, cleaning, providing water and fuel, and removing bilge water and waste.
All commercial vessels must use the service of a qualified pilot. Pilots board vessels outside the breakwater, and pilot services are available 24 hours a day. The pilot can coordinate with tugboats that assist ships entering and leaving the Port of Haifa.
The Port of Haifa operates three tugboats with capacity for 30- to 35-ton loads and one tugboat with towage force of 55 tons. The Port of Haifa also has three multi-purpose boats used for piloting, towing, and mooring vessels.
The Port of Haifa's refueling services are performed by refueling barges that carry heavy fuel oil, light fuel, and marine diesel and standard grade oil.
The Kishon Zone is immediately east of the main Port of Haifa. The Kishon Zone is protected by two breakwaters of 600 and 350 meters (1968 and 1148 feet). It has a 1045-meter (3428-foot) main channel that is 80 meters wide (262.5 feet) with a depth of 12 meters (39.4 feet). Serving vessels with maximum draft of 9.5 meters (31.2 feet), the Kishon Zone covers about 340 hectares and includes the chemical terminals and storage areas. The Port of Haifa's Kishon East Quay has berthing distance of 580 meters (1903 feet) and is 50 meters (164 feet) wide. Its rear area covers about 20 hectares and was depths up to 11 meters (36.1 feet).
The Port of Haifa's Fishing Wharf is located at the mouth of Kishon Stream. The Fishing Wharf in the Port of Haifa has berthing distance of 300 meters (984 feet) and is equipped with an on-site crane for lifting boats. The Fishing Wharf is home to several great fish restaurants, and it includes workshops for repair and refueling fishing vessels. In addition, there is a 1200-meter (3937-foot) long marina that can moor as many as 300 private yachts. The adjacent Kishon Stream Park is a year-round recreational center used by Port of Haifa residents and tourists.
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