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Friday, July 2, 1976 49

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Israel Plans New Developments for Port Facilities

An article in a recent is-
sue of the Technion Quar-
terly discussed the develop-
ment and future plans of
Israel's port facilities.
Eli Lazar, of the Israel
Ports Authority (IPA) and a
Technion graduate, pointed
out that the IPA is different
from the majority of other
port authorities in the
world.
It is responsible for the
development, management
and cargo handling of all
ports in Israel.
Ashdod Port and Eilat
Port began to function in
the 1960s. Haifa Port was
built by the British - in the
1930s, and was "reasonably
well planned given the cir-
cumstances at that time,"
said Lazar.
Of the total cargo traffic
which passed through Is-
raeli ports in 1973-74,
Haifa accounted for 55
percent, Ashdod handled
37 percent and Eilat han-
dled eight percent.
The Coastal Engineering
Research Center of the
Technion is concerned with
various development pro-
jects related to the ports.
Currently, the total develop-
ment budget of the Author-
ity is slightly less than $30
million.
With the emphasis today
on containerized shipping,
much of this money will be
for construction of berths,
special equipment and for
provision of new storage
space for this fast-moving,
highly efficient method of
shipping cargo.
It will mean, for example,
a new central container
terminal in the eastern part
of Haifa Port and the con-
struction of a wharf at the
main breakwater at Ashdod
Port. Such additions will be
feasible only after much
testing.
The Haifa breakwater
will have to be extended to
accommodate the new
terminal. Long-range de-
velopment for Ashdod will
demand construction of a
new breakwater or exten-
sion of the existing main
breakwater.
Until the War of Inde-
pendence, Haifa remained a
small port. During the
dozen years after 1948 the
Port of Haifa blossomed
into Israel's largest and bus-
iest seaport. Today it must
grow further, through the
careful and wise use of land
.reclaimed from the sea, the

the fishing boats that pres- the projects will concentrate reasonably expect jobs from years we want to build a
addition of new land and
on Haifa and Ashdod Ports. Israeli sources for the next new laboratory in Tirah,
ently use it.
better use of the Kishon
Perhaps ocean barges will 10-15 years. I am not spea-k- including indoor wave
South
of
Gaza
the
water
River basin.
tends to be more shallow soon become a reality and ing only of the Ports Au- tanks, new measuring in-
Ashdod Port, begun in the
struments and computer
and not enough exact tech- set everyone to rethinking thority.
early '60s, went into full
services. At that point the
"Private
companies
who
all
the
problems.
Perhaps
nical
data
exists.
operation some seven years
The Israel Ports Author- the future holds plans for built recreation facilities, Coastal Engineering Re-
later. It is now considered
ity can keep Technion's ports away from the shore- pipelines, the electric com- search Center will be able to
"small and overcrowded".
pany, etc. could use our ex- investigate shoreline and
Coastal
Engineering Re- line.
Even its 12 meter depth of
harbor problems in a most
Michael Vajda of Tech- pertise.
search Center busy for
water must be deepened to
"During the next two efficient way."
15 meters to permit anchor- years. In the near future, nion's Center says, "We can
age for the giant ships that
must call there.
The IPA's master plan for
Ashdod takes into account
the necessary expansion the
port requires today and in
the future. Here there is
room to grow, but only after
the Mediterranean Sea has
been tamed along the shore-
line.
The Port of Eilat, lying
at the northern end of the
Red Sea, requires no
breakwater to calm the
offshore water. Storms
occur less than one percent
of the time.
At Eilat Port, the Tech-
nion has tested models of
new docks. However, Eilat's
emphasis will he on expand-
ing inland to accommodate
the expected growth in its
cargo traffic during the
1980s.
An often-suggested rail-
way link to Ashdod, outside
the purview of the Ports Au-
thority, will probably prove
the most beneficial way of
bringing Eilat closer to the
A crane is shown in the center of this photograph loading containerized cargo on the docks of Israel's second
center of Israel.
largest port, Ashdod. Container ships have revolutionized shipping, and Israel is planning the construction of more
Today, Israel has three facilities at each of her port facilities to utilize this modern method of cargo handling.
ports. The ports at. Tel Aviv
and Jaffa ceased handling
cargo in 1966.
The port at Gaza does
not offer enough land area,
according to the Author-
ity, for development at this
time into a major port. It
can handle little more than

Red China Gives
Acknowledgement

WASHINGTON (ZINS)
— Red China is on record
for the first time as ac-
knowledging Israel's right
to exist as an independent
Middle Eastern state, it was
reported by N.Y. Congress-
man Lester Wolff, who was
part of a Congressional dele-
gation on an official visit to
Peking.
Officials at the Chinese
Foreign Ministry told the
delegation that although
Peking supports the Arabs
in the Middle East conflict,
it recognizes Israel's right to
exist as a free and indepen-
dent state.

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Israel Pound Devalued Again

4111

, JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The Israel Pound was re-
duced in value by two per-
cent last Wednesday and
now stands at IL 7.97 to the
dollar compared to the pre-
vious exchange rate of IL
7.82-$1. Despite mounting
criticism of the so-called
"creeping devaluation," the
Treasury said that it would
continue the policy aimed at
reducing imports and in-
creasing exports.
The devaluation was the
10th since June 1975, when
the ministerial finance com-
mittee was first empowered
to devalue the Pound at the

rate of up to 2 percent every
30 days if considered neces-
sary.
The Treasury said the lat-
est devaluation would not
result in increased prices for
basic commodities which
are subsidized by the gov-
ernment. Economists did
not expect an immediate
rise in the prices of im-
ported goods. But their eval-
uation provided little conso-
lation for Israeli consumers
who face a minimum in-
crease of 5 percent in the
cost of living when the new
value added tax (VAT) goes
into effect July 1.

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