Dredging Environmental & Marine Engineering NV (DEME) and Jan de Nul Group have dispatched representatives to Israel in recent weeks to discuss a project to develop an airport offshore in the Mediterranean, Bloomberg reports.
According to Avi Simhon, head of the National Economic Council in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office , the dredging giants have sent their senior employees to discuss the project which could cost about $10 billion and take 10-15 years to build.
Israel’s fast-growing economy is limited by a scarcity of land for infrastructure, especially in the center of the country. They only have one major airport serving a booming tourism industry and a population eager to travel abroad.
Earlier this year, Israel formed a committee, headed by Simhon, to look into moving infrastructure projects or building new facilities on artificial islands, Bloomberg informs.
“ These plans have been under consideration for many years here, and now it’s a matter of finally moving things forward. We can’t sit around and do nothing while Ben-Gurion Airport reaches overcapacity ,” concluded Simhon.
[mappress mapid=”25182″]