L.A. port signs sister port agreement with Israeli port

L.A. port signs sister port agreement with Israeli port The City of Los Angeles has signed a sister port agreement between the Port of Los Angeles and the Israel Ports Development & Asset Co. in Ashdod, Israel.
   Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in Israel on a trade mission, presided over the signing of the agreement on Monday. Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner Douglas Krause and IPDAC Chief Executive Officer Shlomo Brieman signed the agreement for the two parties.
   The signing ceremony marks Los Angeles' 10th sister port agreement with foreign ports. Other agreements cover the ports of Nagoya and Tokyo in Japan; Keelung and Kaoshiung in Taiwan; the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas; the Port of Saigon, Vietnam; the Sydney Ports Corp. of Australia; the Port of Valparaiso, Chile; and the Port of Busan in South Korea.
   The new sister port agreement with IPDAC developed out of a March visit to Ashdod by a Los Angeles delegation where the ports exchanged information on port management. The Israeli port is moving from an operator port model to a landlord model similar to that used by the Port of Los Angeles.
   Under terms of the new agreement, the two port authorities will exchange information on security practices and methods, as well as on environmental initiatives.
   Ashdod is an important industrial center of about 200,000 residents located on the southern Mediterranean Sea Coast of Israel. The port of Ashdod is the largest in Israel, handling about 60 percent of the nation's oceanborne cargo. In addition to being the nation's major container port, Ashdod also boasts extensive bulk cargo handling facilities and an extensive passenger vessel center.