A Beijing-based contracting firm, China Harbor, has been chosen to build a new union buster port in Ashdod. The new South Port will cost Israel NIS 3.3 billion ($930 million).

PIC

Israeli and Chinese officials applaud the new port deal (Photo: GPO)

The new port will be built about one kilometer north of the current Ashdod Port. It will consist of a 1,000-meter pier and 2,800-meter breakwater. The pier will have facilities for loading and offloading ships, warehouses and storage areas, office space, and more. Construction is set to begin at the end of the year and will take about seven years to complete, officials said. The government is also planning to build another union buster port in Haifa, and the decision on a contractor will be made in about a month, the officials said in a statement. Neo-liberal Israeli government is going to have to keep costs at the new privatized port down – and that will require taking on the powerful unions that currently control Israel’s sea transportation infrastructure. The new port, officials said, is the government’s response to what they called “the excesses of the port workers’ unions.” The new port will be administered by private contractors who will not be beholden to the current labor leadership and collective contracts. In recent years, workers at the port have gone on strike numerous times.

For China, the project is an opportunity to enhance its business ties with Israel, Ambassador Gao Yanping said at the event. “This project will effectively open up the Israeli market to China. I am sure that the cooperation between our two countries on this and other projects will lead to other investments that will generate development and jobs for citizens of both countries.”