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The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod
Port of Ashdod

The Port of Ashdod is Israel's main cargo port, processing approximately 60% of Israeli Cargo#Marine Cargo Types. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River....
, and the Port of Eilat
Port of Eilat

The Port of Eilat is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. It has significant economic and strategic importance....
. It has a natural deep water harbor
Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored. Harbors can be man-made or natural....
 which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and cargo ships. Annually, 22 million tons of goods pass through the port. Over 1,000 people work there, with the number rising to 5,000 when cruise ships dock in Haifa.
lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m6822151",this)' onMouseout='hide("m6822151")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Gulf_of_Haifa">Haifa Bay
Gulf of Haifa

Haifa Bay is a small bay along the Mediterranean coast of Northern Israel. Fed by the Kishon River, the cities of Haifa and Acre, Israel mark its southern and northern capes, while its centre is lined with dunes and the suburban Krayot neighbourhoods....
 has been a refuge for mariners since prehistoric times.






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The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod
Port of Ashdod

The Port of Ashdod is Israel's main cargo port, processing approximately 60% of Israeli Cargo#Marine Cargo Types. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River....
, and the Port of Eilat
Port of Eilat

The Port of Eilat is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. It has significant economic and strategic importance....
. It has a natural deep water harbor
Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored. Harbors can be man-made or natural....
 which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and cargo ships. Annually, 22 million tons of goods pass through the port. Over 1,000 people work there, with the number rising to 5,000 when cruise ships dock in Haifa.

History

Haifa Bay
Gulf of Haifa

Haifa Bay is a small bay along the Mediterranean coast of Northern Israel. Fed by the Kishon River, the cities of Haifa and Acre, Israel mark its southern and northern capes, while its centre is lined with dunes and the suburban Krayot neighbourhoods....
 has been a refuge for mariners since prehistoric times. When the Crusaders
Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious war waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against Paganism Slavic peoples, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Church, Mongols, Catharism, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemi...
 conquered Haifa in the year 1100, it became an important town and the main port for Tiberias
Tiberias

Tiberias is a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. It was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius....
, the capital of the Galilee
Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the ridges of Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa t...
. The port fell into disrepair during the reign of the Mameluks
Mamluk

A mamluk was a slavery soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans from the 9th to the 13th centuries....
, and had the reputation of a pirates’ lair in the 18th century.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Acre
Acre

The acre is a Units of measurement of area in a number of different systems, including the Imperial unit#Measures of area and United States customary units#Units of area systems....
 served as the main port for the region. However, the port eventually became clogged with silt, and was unable to accommodate large ships. The first person to comprehend the tremendous possibilities of a port in Haifa was Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl was an Austria-Hungary journalist who was the father of modern political Zionism.Herzl was born in Pest, Hungary, the Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish people family originally from Zemun, the Kingdom of Hungary ....
, the father of Political Zionism
Zionism

Zionism is the international Jewish political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine....
, who in 1898 wrote a prophetic description of the town in his book AltNeuland
The Old New Land

The Old New Land is a utopian novel published by Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, in 1902. Outlining Herzl?s vision for a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, Altneuland became one of Zionism's establishing texts....
. Construction of the port began in 1922, and officially opened on October 31, 1933. The port allowed Haifa to blossom, and in 1936, the city had over 100,000 inhabitants. The port served as a gateway for thousands of immigrants to Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 after the Second World War
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. With Israel’s borders sealed by its Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 neighbors after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known by the Israelis predominantly as War of Independence and War of Liberation , and by Palestinians as the Catastrophe , was the first in a series of wars fought between the Declaration of Independence State of Israel and its Arab neighbours in the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict....
, Haifa served as a crucial gateway to the rest of the world, and helped Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 develop into an economic superpower. Today the port brings both passenger and cargo traffic to a bustling metropolis, much as Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl was an Austria-Hungary journalist who was the father of modern political Zionism.Herzl was born in Pest, Hungary, the Kingdom of Hungary to a Jewish people family originally from Zemun, the Kingdom of Hungary ....
 predicted over a century ago.

The port has been the scene of two maritime incidents; one, the Patria disaster
Patria disaster

The Patria disaster occurred on 25 November 1940 when the Patria, a France-built ocean liner, sank in Haifa harbour after a bomb carried covertly on board exploded, killing 260 people, and injuring another 172....
, killing 267, while the other, the loss of the Shelly, killing two people.

Facilities

The Port of Haifa contains many cargo terminals, and is capable of servicing many ships at once. Adjacent to the port is a railroad terminal for transporting goods across the country. The port also features a fishing wharf, a yacht club, a sports marina, and a chemical terminal. In 2003 alone, the port processed over 20 million tons of cargo. In 2006, the port opened three new quays that allow for a much greater cargo handling capacity.

The Port maintains facilities for the United States Sixth Fleet.

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