Hurt by Houthi blockade, Israel’s southern gateway Eilat port is on the verge of closing

The Eilat port
Photo: megaconstrucciones

The southern port of Eilat is calling on the government to help avert imminent closure, with the debt-ridden seaport on the verge of financial collapse due to the disruption of maritime trade routes caused by continued attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, ‘The Times of Israel’ writes.

The Eilat port, Israel’s southern gateway, has been struggling to keep afloat as it lost more than 90 percent of its activities since the Houthis began attacking maritime traffic a month after the outbreak of war with the Hamas group in October 2023.

Faced with huge monthly expenses — municipal taxes and salary costs — and debt piling up over the past 20 months, while its main revenue stream has been cut, the port is facing closure as early as Sunday, putting 170 jobs at risk.

“The Eilat port has strategic national importance to Israel as the country’s southern gateway on the Red Sea for maritime trade with the Far East, India, and Australia, and constitutes a significant economic anchor for the city and its residents,” Eilat port CEO Gideon Golber told ‘The Times of Israel’. “The closure of a strategic seaport in Israel would be a huge international success for the Houthis that none of our enemies have ever achieved.”

Conversely, “the unloading of ships from the Far East at the port of Eilat would constitute an image of victory over the Houthis,” Golber said.

While the bulk of Israel’s maritime trade passes through the ports of Haifa and Ashdod on the Mediterranean, Eilat is a major entry point for some imports from East Asia, including vehicles from China. About 50% of vehicle imports enter via the Eilat port. The port is also a gateway to the Far East for phosphate and potash exports, mainly by Israeli Chemicals Limited (ICL).

For almost two years, ships calling at the Eilat port have been facing the broader threat of being targeted by the Houthi group in open waters in the Red Sea. The Houthis have also fired ballistic missiles and drones at the city of Eilat since the beginning of the Hamas war. As a result, vessels have been unloading at the ports in Ashdod and Haifa.

Ships bound for Israel and linking to Europe from the Far East have been diverting to a longer route around the southern tip of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, increasing the shipping time of goods by two to four weeks and raising the costs per vessel.

“From the moment the Houthis seized the NYK cargo vessel [back in November 2023] and blocked the shipping route around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint at the foot of the commercially vital Red Sea, the activity of the Eilat port was brought to an near-halt,” said Golber. “All actions taken by the US and Israel to resolve the situation have so far failed.”

Golber said that as part of a national effort, the port is currently operating to provide services to the Israeli Navy, but due to large debts, including to the Eilat municipality, it was decided that it will have to shut down next week.

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