An aerial view of Haifa will offer a ready explanation for its reputation as a port city: a huge portion of its coastline is peppered with ships docked at its various shipping ports, and there’s seldom a shortage of ships off the coast waiting to dock and get their goods to dry land.

While Haifa Port’s origins hark back to the country’s British-ruled years, and the bay itself has a long history of imports and exports since about 1,400 BCE, there is a very young and very advanced new kid on the block: SIPG Bayport Terminal.

That unassuming name denotes the latest addition to Haifa’s coast: an 800-meter-long, 17.3-meter-deep privately owned and operated shipping port (or “terminal,” as the boat people call it). It went into action in September 2021, and was constructed by its current owner, SIPG (Shanghai International Port Group).

The first of its kind in Israel, SIPG Bayport Terminal has the capacity to process one million shipping containers annually. Perhaps the most interesting logistical facet of the new port is that, despite its enormous production capabilities, it relies on the labor of only about 100 people.

That notably low number of staff is possible thanks to the vast amount of automation technology built into the port’s DNA. From tracking containers, to reaching out to drivers, to onloading and off-loading cargo, the vast majority of work done at the terminal is done automatically.

Poster Comment:

A million containers a year. Great for smugglers, especially weapons. China sent weapons through San Pedro in containers.