The Israel Ports Company has announced the shortlist for a concession to operate and maintain Ashdod's Southport terminal (HaDarom) and/or Haifa's Bayport terminals (HaMifratz).

The shortlisted companies are the following:

• Terminal Investment Limited S.A. (TIL, an MSC subsidiary);
• Eurogate (Europe's leading line-independent terminal operator);
• International Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) and
• Shanghai International Port Group Co Ltd. (SIPG).

The four firms must submit operational plans, sustainability plans, business plans and a financial proposal.

Israel Katz, Israel's Transport minister, stated:

Israeli port reform continues to move forward with the expression of interest of several leading international port operators to operate the new facilities in Haifa and Ashdod. The port operations section is now being opened to competition. We believe that such competition will lead to a reduction in the cost of living to the benefit of the public.

The winning operator will complete the terminal development and operate and maintain the facilities for a period of 25 years. The tenders require that each terminal be operated by a different operator to ensure market competition. The preferred bidders are expected to be selected by the first quarter of 2015.

The new terminals are to be built on land that will be reclaimed and will feature facilities designed to handle Triple-E class vessels (18,000 TEU capacity). At last, the terminals will have two quays with a total length of some 1,600m and maximum waterside depth of 17.3m.

Ashdod's Southport terminal (HaDarom) and/or Haifa's Bayport terminals (HaMifratz) are expected to be operational by 2020. The initial capacity is expected to be about 800,000 TEUs.

In late April we reported that four bidders had submitted qualifications for the concession contract.