SHIPPING + MARITIME-

Dammam’s King Abdul Aziz Port added to shipping service connecting it with southeast Asian and regional hubs: Thailand-based ocean freighter RCL has added Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz Port to a shipping service — dubbed RGA — connecting it to six regional and Southeast Asian ports, according to a Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) statement. The port will be added to the route’s rotation effective tomorrow, the statement said.

Details: The weekly service operates with a single vessel and kicks off from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Port, before heading to Vietnam’s Cai Mep, Thailand’s Laem Chabang, Malaysia’s Klang, India’s Nhava Sheva, the UAE’s Jebel Ali, and Oman’s Sohar ports.

This is the latest in a slew of shipping routes Mawani has added so far this year: The addition of Saudi ports to international shipping routes is slated to strengthen export and import supply chains and aligns with the port authority’s drive to increase competitiveness and boost the kingdom’s maritime connectivity with global trading hubs, according to the statement.

ALSO- MSC renewed a vessel sharing agreement with Israeli cargo shipping firm ZIM for its Israel Express service, which connects Israeli ports with Damietta Port in Egypt and European ports, according to a statement last week. The service operates with five vessels, each with a capacity of 6.7k TEUs, and three of which are operated by MSC. The rotation includes ports in Israel as well as Egypt, France, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK.

SCA inks new agreement with Maersk: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has signed an agreement with multinational shipping giant Maersk to collaborate on green transformation projects, tugboat construction, ship recycling, and workforce training, the authority said in a statement Thursday. The statement didn’t elaborate on how the two sides would work together on green projects, but said the agreement comes as part of the authority’s efforts to turn the shipping corridor into a “green canal" by 2030. The partnership on tugboat construction will be done via Maersk subsidiary, Svitzer, which is currently designing the world’s first methanol hydrogen fuel cell tug.

RAIL-

Thales + Orascom to revamp Cairo-Beni Suef rail signaling: Thales Group and Egypt’s Orascom Construction have signed a contract with Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to upgrade the signaling and communication systems of the 125-km Cairo-Beni Suef railway line, the Transport Ministry said Friday. The ministry didn’t disclose the value of the contract.

TRADE-

Iran + India to set up agriculture joint committee to kick off agriculture trade agreement talks: The agriculture ministries of Iran and India have inked an agreement to set up a joint committee on agriculture, ahead of a plan to kick off talks for an agriculture trade agreement, Iranian state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency(IRNA) reports. This came during a visit by an Iranian agriculture ministry delegation — headed by Deputy Agriculture Minister Alireza Peyman-Pak — to India, which saw them discuss with an Indian delegation ways to remove obstacles to Iran’s exports of agricultural products. The two sides also reached an agreement on the supply of seeds from India.

Afreximbank has inked an MoU with the UAE Trade Center to promote its Tradar Club solution, according to a press release. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) in Dubai, aims to foster collaboration through “inter-institutional cooperation; provision of business-oriented information to facilitate trade and investment; business matchmaking; grants; technical assistance; and capacity building,” according to the press release. The newly launched Afreximbank Tradar Club is a “member-driven network” that aims to facilitate trade and investments in Africa for businesses and executives by providing trade information, digital resources, advisory support, and networking prospects.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING-

  • Jordan Post has adde d new international shipping options by partnering with Aramex, DHL, and UPS. (Petra)
  • Spanish low-cost airline Iberia Express is launching on 29 October a new flight linking Marrakech to Madrid two times a week. (M AP News)
  • The A mman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) and the Iraqi Embassy in Amman have agreed to establish an Iraqi trade center at the ACC's headquarters before the end of 2023.(Petra)
  • Flydubai is introducing two weekly flights to Volgograd, Russia starting 1 November,and four weekly flights to Mombasa starting17 January,making it the first UAE carrier to operate flights to the coastal destination. (Statement | Statement)
  • T he Jordanian Transport Minis try has approved the resumption of three flights connecting Sanaa and Queen Alia airports starting 5 September. (Statement)
Tags: