Ashdod Port Company in Israel has struck a deal with Maersk North America to work on supply chain logistics innovation potential.

The partnership is expected to allow Israeli firms participating in the Blue Ocean for Startups technological incubator at Ashdod Port to be eligible for pilot projects in North America to test the suggested solutions in landside operations.

The partnership was struck during the Manifest conference in Las Vegas, which is one of the world’s major logistics conventions.

“This type of collaboration is critical, so we can upgrade the entire supply chain, the source of the modern global economy, and make it more efficient,” stated Orna Hozman Bechor, chairman of the board of Ashdod Port.

Earlier in 2021, Maersk signed an innovation partnership agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Transportation & Logistics. MIT’s world-renowned engineering skills and data scientist teams will work to investigate methods to improve Maersk North America’s logistics and data operations.

Ashdod Port was represented at the signing by the chairman of the board Orna Hozman Bechor and chief innovation officer Roy Avrahami. Erez Agmoni, senior vice president of innovation and strategic growth at Maersk, represented the company.

“The pandemic highlighted the importance of supply chains to constantly improve. This new partnership enables us to accelerate and test technology and new ideas in our operational processes using Ashdod Port’s tech incubator, ” noted Erez Agmoni, Maersk North America’s senior vice president of Innovation and Strategic Growth.