Yigal Maor & Yuval Eylon
Introduction: Global and National Maritime Trade, Scope and Potential for Disruption
About 85% of global trade (by weight) is currently transported by sea, some 14% by land, and less than 1% by air. The weight of the sea freight is about 12 billion tons, in which 4.7 billion tons consist of energy in various forms, including coal for steel manufacture; 4.4 billion tons are mainly iron ores, other bulk cargoes, and chemicals; about 2 billion tons are goods in containers, and about 0.9 billion tons are general cargoes (Clarksons, 2023).
Israel’s foreign trade in 2022 (in terms of weight and volume) totaled about 84 million tons, of which 83.5 tons consisted of goods transported by sea (99.6% of Israel’s total foreign trade, in a variety specified below).[1] Regarding maritime trade, Israel is entirely dependent on the import of raw materials, most consumer goods, and, to a large extent, its energy cargoes (such as coal, crude and refined oil, and refined petroleum gas). The discovery and production of natural gas in Israel and the beginning of its use to generate electricity and for industry have significantly reduced dependence on energy imports. Most of the supply chains on which Israel relies for its imports are long from a geographical perspective and based on maritime transportation, as a result of Israel’s complicated relations with its neighbors and the almost insurmountable problems of operating with them via land bridges, except for relatively small quantities of cargoes in transit, largely through the Jordan River terminal.[2] Therefore, it is important to understand that Israel’s existence as an “island state”—(particularly in economic terms) due to its geopolitical situation and geographical location—depends on foreign trade, largely by sea.
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