Port of Haifa illustrated on the 1.00 Israeli Pound stamp

 

Dagon (Grain) Silo at the port of Haifa, illustrated on the 1.00 Israeli Pound  stamp in the Ports of Israel series designed by Oswald Adler and issued 19 February 1969

The Port of Haifa (Hebrew: נמל חיפה) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep-water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean in terms of freight volume and handles about 30 million tons of cargo per year (not including Israel Shipyards' port). The port employs over 1,000 people, rising to 5,000 when cruise ships dock in Haifa.[1] The Port of Haifa lies to the north of Haifa's downtown quarter on the Mediterranean, and stretches to some three kilometres along the city's central shore with activities ranging from military, industrial and commercial next to a nowadays-smaller passenger cruising facility.

The Haifa Port Company is responsible for most cargo operations in Haifa Port – a natural deep-water harbour – which had been established in 1933.  Haifa’s port is situated on the southern shore of Haifa Bay, 90 km north of Tel Aviv.  It handled some 28 million tons of cargo during 2016; including 1.26 million TEU’s of container traffic (TEU stands for Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit which is used to measure a ship’s cargo carrying capacity, and is equivalent to the dimensions of a standard 20 feet x 8 feet shipping container).

Several smaller terminal operators in the port area include specialized bulk handlers Dagon Grain Terminal and the Petroleum and Energy Infrastructures (PEI) oil terminal.  In addition to cargo handling capacity, the port also has a passenger terminal for handling cruise traffic.

Haifa can handle vacation cruises – departing and terminating – both for Israelis and for tourists arriving in Israel. In coming years the central area of the port bordering on Haifa city centre – Palmer Gate – will be transformed little by little into a public waterfront open for leisure, cultural events and entertainment.

The area near the terminal also offers excellent public transit connections for passengers. The Haifa Center Railway Station is adjacent to the terminal and is served by nearly 200 passenger trains 24 hours a day on weekdays to the Haifa region and beyond. Additional public transit connections are available by bus or taxi at the railway station or on Ha'Atsma'ut Road, the main thoroughfare in downtown Haifa which is located in front of the station. The Carmelit's Kikar Paris subway station is also within walking distance and allows convenient access to the top of Mount Carmel.