The Port of Eilat on Israel's Red Sea coast has been forced to suspend its operations as a result of debt and tax dues incurred as a result of a significant drop in ship calls.
The decline in ship visits was due to the blockade imposed by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on commercial traffic in the Red Sea as a means of pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Palestinian terror group Hamas.
The decline became more pronounced in 2024 when only 16 ships made calls at Eilat throughout the entire year. In comparison, more than 130 ships were serviced at the port during the first ten months of 2023, up until the deadly attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israel on October 7 of that year.
The Israeli Government recently awarded the port an emergency grant fund equivalent to US$4 million to offset losses incurred due to the reduction in ship traffic.
However, Eilat Port Company has an outstanding debt equivalent to US$8.5 million to service providers, while its financial obligations are reportedly at least equal to that amount. Around US$3 million of the port's bank accounts were recently frozen by the Eilat Municipal Government to settle some of the tax arrears.
The suspension of operations at the port has also been deemed by some local observers to have an impact on Israeli Navy operations.
Some of the navy's patrol boats are based at the port, from where they provide security for the navy's own shipyard facilities nearby.