At the Mare Med conference in Tel Aviv, Haifa Port president Capt. Sumit Chauhan presented the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and positioned Haifa as the corridor's Mediterranean gateway for cargo heading from India to Europe and North America.

How the corridor works

IMEC combines sea legs and rail lines, connecting India with Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.

The numbers

Initial potential: about 1.5 million TEU a year.

Longer term: about 3 million TEU a year, with more capacity and better rail-port coordination.

Compared with the Suez Canal route, transit times could fall by around 40% and logistics costs by up to 30%, but only if the infrastructure is built and corridor operations are properly regulated.

Next steps

Chauhan pointed to Adani's port network in India and its investment in Haifa as a base for coordinated logistics, including digital cargo tracking. Other ideas include partnerships with Eastern Mediterranean ports, feeder services to the Balkans and Central Europe, and onward routing to the US East Coast. The conference, attended by delegations from Israel, Greece and Cyprus, also discussed investments in green hydrogen, data centers and intercontinental cables.

What it means for importers

IMEC is still in development, but if it moves ahead, cargo from India and the Gulf could reach Israel faster and at lower cost. Importers should keep an eye on new rail and feeder services through Haifa.