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Press release

Red Sea – Dead Sea Project: Thetis' feasibility study produces promising initial results

Organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting brought together representatives from the countries that provided financing for the studies through the World Bank (France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Holland, Sweden, the United States and Greece), as well as representatives from the World Bank and the three areas that will benefit from the project (Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories), and also included experts conducting the feasibility studies.

Thetis presented the initial results of its study, which is now approximately 70% complete. Begun in March 2010, the study will definitively conclude in the summer of 2011. Thetis is acting as the team leader for this study in collaboration with institutes and experts that have been studying the Gulf of Aqaba for years, including the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science in Eilat and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (Israel), the Marine Science Station in Aqaba (Jordan) and Prof. S. Monismith of Stanford University (USA).

Thetis’ task force, coordinated by Dr. Andrea Barbanti (Director of the Environmental and Land Engineering Division), has produced promising results. The study reveals that the impact of the water withdrawal (estimated at about two million cubic metres per year) on the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat and its coral reef marine environment will be minimal. Thetis has also recommended a precise location for the placement of the water intake.

The results of the study were favourably received by the beneficiary countries, which have expressed a desire to go forward with the 10 billion dollar project. The ultimate objective of the project is to compensate for the Dead Sea’s water deficit, which is expected to grow by 2040, and to increase the input of freshwater into the sea through the use a desalinization plant.

In conducting this study, Thetis capitalized on the considerable expertise it has gained through years of experience with international projects. In fact, the Italian company’s international experience includes: playing a leading role in the sustainability assessment analysis for the islands in Chongming County (China), conducting a sustainable mobility management study in New Delhi (India) and participating in numerous projects in other countries, including Croatia, Romania, Libya and Thailand.


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