Dredging work will be carried out at Keppel Shipyard Benoi Road, off West Jurong Channel, from 28 July to 30 September. As per the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Port Marine Notice No.98 of 2014, the works will be conducted 24 hours daily - including Sundays & Public Holidays - More at www2.marinelink.c...

Kamarajar Port Ltd. (KPL), formerly Ennore Port, has chalked out a Rs.20-crore expansion plan to facilitate increased export of cars. As a new entrant, KPL is facing competition from the Chennai Port Trust, which exports about 3 lakh cars annually against 2.02 lakh units by KPL. KPL Chairman-cum-Managing Director M. A. Bhaskarachar said that the port was developing a 58,500-sq. metre car parking yard adjacent to the existing one to accommodate 4,000 cars. The work order would be issued next month, and the yard would be ready within 15 months. On completion, 17,000 cars can be parked at any given time, he said. KPL handled 39,000 cars and 8.9 million tonnes of cumulative cargo so far up to July 25 in the current fiscal against 7.67 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

Cairo: Israel’s transport minister has proposed building an offshore port for Gaza. The suggestion follows on from recent calls by the Qatari foreign minister to build a port in Gaza to help alleviate the suffering there. Israel’s transportation minister Yisrael Katz has said Gaza should have its own airport and port. “We should open the Rafiah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for an intermediate period, for goods and people to pass through, with supervision,” he said. “At the same time, we should initiate the creation of an artificial island at sea, under international supervision and with international funding, roughly 4.5 km off the Gaza coast,” he continued. A model for the project has already been created, he said. “On the island there will be a port, a power plant and water treatment plant, and eventually an airport. There could be hotels there, too. The island would be connected to Gaza by a bridge, which would have a security checkpoint in the centre. “[The checkpoint] would be under full international control for 100 years, and under Israeli control at sea,” he suggested. “The Palestinians would be part of operating the port and airport, and staffing the hotels.” [23/07/14]