Two 46,000-ton tankers ordered by the Israeli Government are under construction today in a Japanese shipyard. The cost of the vessels is estimated at 5.4 billion yen–the equivalent of $15,000,000 in U.S. currency–according to Israeli officials in Tokyo.
Uraga Dockyard, one of the country’s leading shipbuilders, is constructing the tankers, with a delivery time of 15 months. Dockyard officials said one of the vessels was begun in March and the other in September, which means Israel can expect delivery of the two big tankers in June, 1959 and December, 1959.
It was announced here that Israel was considering the purchase of one or perhaps two larger tankers from Japan, but officials emphasized that negotiations would probably continue for several months.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.