The ship-to-shore crane paused above the cargo ship just arrived from Dubai, then set its load down on the Haifa pier in Israel.
One after another, eight containers filled with electronics, cleaning supplies, iron and firefighting equipment were unloaded off the MSC Paris, one of the first cargo ships to make the journey between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Just a few months ago, such a journey from Dubai’s Jebel Ali port to the northern Israeli port city of Haifa would have been unthinkable.
The countries announced a normalization deal in August which laid the ground for a potentially profitable new trade route.
An MSC spokesman said the MSC Paris was part of its Indus Express service, which originates in the United Arab Emirates and calls at Indian ports, the Mediterranean and the United States.
