"הספינה הגיעה לנמל חיפה."

Translation: The ship arrived at the port of Haifa.

[Home-To-Him]

הַסְּפִינָה הִגִּיעָה לִנְמַל חֵיפָה

[antonsamuel]

Is ספינה ok to use for both ship and boat? I thought boat was סירה.

[synp]

Official ministry of transportation designations:

סירה - עד 7 מטר
ספינה - 8-24 מטר
אניה - 24 מטר ומעלה

Colloquially sfina can cover ships, but you won't use if for really small boats like kayaks or optimists

[Dov360473]

All boat owners are optimists, not just small boat owners ;-)

[NaftaliFri1]

You are correct, as far as my nautical knowledge goes.

[gsazbon]

How do you pronounce Haifa in english? (Like Hebrew: chEifa or like spanish chAifa)

[Theresa754142]

Because ח is not a native English sound, Haifa in English is pronounced with an h such as hot.

If you were a news anchor and pronounced Haifa as Khaifa, that would be as incorrect as pronouncing Paris as Pah-ri, complete with a French r. I sometimes hear anchors do it though, say a foreign place name with its native pronunciation rather than the accepted English pronunciation.

[Lior_Rey]

We pronounce both, but chEifa is the correct one