Israeli Clearance Formalities Latest

Created by doina. Last modified on 2003-05-20 16:38:09
Countries: Israel

Entry & Exit procedure - Israeli ports / marinas

Any vessel approaching the Israeli coast must establish contact on VHF channel 16 with the Israeli Navy or Haifa Radio at a distance of 40 miles or minimum 20 miles of shore and report as following: Name of yacht, flag, number of crew and nationality, position, course, speed, destination marina and ETA. After the report, the VHF must be ON and in constant listening mode till entering the relevant marina. Simultaneously the visit of Navy vessel should be expected (during the night with strong projectors). Please be ready to answer patiently once more the same questions as above. After this procedure you may receive any navigation or other information from the Navy vessel officer. It is recommended to shut OFF the automatic pilot while in close encounter with the Navy vessel. The electronics of the Navy vessel will interfere with the auto-pilot function.

Please note ! The working hours of Passport control office in marinas Tel Aviv and Herzliya are open presently between 08:00 till 17:00 Hrs. Yachts arriving after this time might be requested to stand off the marina. It was advised recently that there will be an arrangement between Tel Aviv and Herzliya, so that one marina will open between 08:00 till 17:00 and the other between 17:00 till 08:00 Hrs. The information about working hours of relevant marina will be advised by Navy vessel, as mentioned above.

Concerning Haifa and Kishon ports. The passport control services for ships is working 24 Hrs. But yachts will have to report to Haifa Port Police for service about one hour before entering the Haifa-Kishon Marina, on VHF channel 16 and then follow instructions. Regarding Askelon and Ashdod marinas, passport control must be coordinated with marina management in advance during the daytime, working hours. 09:00 - 17:00

The exit procedure for a foreign yacht is straightforward: the Skipper has to call at the local marina, finish all mooring payments due, report to marina police with crew passports, marina exit permit and one crew list. Passports will be stamped (or NOT stamped according to skippers request) and exit permission will be granted instantly.

Avri Aviv, Sailing News Magazine

P O Box 6145 Tel Aviv 61060, Israel, Tel: 972-3-5443247 Fax: 972-3-5440280