Good morning, folks. The news cycle has slowed down after a weekend surge of industry updates. In today’s issue, the shipping industry dominates, with updates on Bahri’s fleet expansion and the latest Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. On the global front, we have a round-up on the intensifying shipbuilding competition amid a surge in consolidations. Shall we?

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Syria Recovery and Investment Forum will close its doors today in Bahrain’s Manama. The forum is hosting global industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders to discuss Syria’s most urgent rebuilding needs — and attract investments — across key sectors including education, energy, housing, smart cities, ports, and metro systems.

The Transport Middle East Exhibition is on its second day and will run until tomorrow, 3 September, in Salalah, Oman. The exhibition hosted by Salalah Port features 35 international speakers and over 50 exhibitors from the maritime sector to discuss global transportation and logistics.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Quick-commerce startup Ninja is reportedly in talks with investment banks to advise on a potential IPO that could hit the market as early as 2026, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. The three-year-old company asked banks to pitch for roles as underwriters and advisers, though no final decision has been made on timing or size, and a listing could be pushed to 2027.

ICYMI- Ninja became one of the kingdom’s newest unicorns earlier this year, after raising USD 250 mn from a Riyad Capital-led round at a USD 1.5 bn valuation. A Ninja IPO would further swell Riyadh’s tech pipeline, which already includes fintech heavyweights like Tabby and Emkan Finance.

#2- G42’s shopping for tenants for its 5 GW UAE-US AI Campus…: Abu Dhabi’s state AI firm G42 is still negotiating with US tech giants including Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI to become tenants for the planned 5 GW UAE-US AI Campus, with no agreements yet finalized, Semafor reports, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Google is said to be furthest along in talks to offtake computing capacity. The firm is also considering providing capacity to foreign governments, in an arrangement described as “foreign embassies,” where foreign sovereign tenants can store data as an overseas backup, the source added.

… and is looking to diversify chip suppliers: G42 is holding discussions with AMD, Cerebras Systems, and Qualcomm for computing capacity, the source said. This comes as some US officials have sought to slow the UAE’s access to Nvidia hardware over concerns China might get access to the technology.

REFRESHER- Announced during US President Trump’s visit to Abu Dhabi in May, the project is billed as the largest AI infrastructure development outside the US. Its first phase — a 1 GW Stargate data center led by OpenAI, MGX, SoftBank, and Oracle — is slated to launch in 2026 using Nvidia’s latest GB300 systems.

#3- US-based logistics giant FedEx inaugurated a new head office in Riyadh, set to manage operations in Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, FedEx’s head of the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Africa operations Kami Viswanathan‏ told Aleqtisadiah yesterday.

The expansion includes launching an air and ocean logistics division and providing new services like a non-stop air connection from the West to the Kingdom, which will cut delivery time down to 48 hours, Viswanathan‏ said. Four gateways and four operational stations will be introduced across Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, the Transport General Authority said on X.

#4- UAE eyes cooperation on LNG with Nigeria: Energy and Infrastructure Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei met with Nigerian State Minister for Petroleum Resources Ekperikpe Ekpo, to discuss cooperation on LNG trading, cargo swaps, and midstream projects such as pipelines and processing hubs, according to a statement from Ekpo. The two ministers also discussed cooperation on decarbonization initiatives like carbon capture and storage, blue hydrogen, and methane management.

DISRUPTION WATCH-

Houthis claim near-miss strike on Israeli-owned tanker: Yemen’s Houthi militants have claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on a Liberian-flagged, Israeli-owned tanker close to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu, Reuters reports. The attacked vessel, Scalet Ray, is owned by the Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is itself owned by the Israeli shipping magnate Idan Ofer. The incident was first reported by the the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which said the vessel and its crew were unharmed and are continuing their journey.

REMEMBER- The Houthis are now adopting a broader strategy to its selection of targeted vessels to include vessels whose owners have any operational links to Israel, potentially putting one out of every six ships at risk of future attacks. Following the group’s attack on the Magic Seas vessel in July, the Houthis spokesperson Yahya al-Sarea said the vessel was targeted because its owner also operates ships calling on Israeli ports. Initial reports of the attack were unable to pinpoint why the vessel was targeted despite the lack of Israeli ports calls linked to its name.

The militant group recently published a set of frequently asked questions to help shippers navigate their ‘policies’, ostensibly promising safe passage through Yemeni waters for any vessel unaffiliated with their list of “sanctioned” entities, Lloyd’s List reported last month. The militant group instructed seafarers to submit a safe passage request via the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), a Houthi-run platform.

MEANWHILE- The Red Sea route is seeing some healthy signs of return, with Suez Canal transits growing by some 33% y-o-y so far this year, TradeWinds reports, citing Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco) Chief Analyst Niels Rasmussen. “The ratio between deadweight transiting the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope has year to date increased to 1.44 from 1.09 in 2024,” Rasmussen said.

This might be bad news for shippers: The traffic surge is set to increase the supply of available vessels, given that now more voyages take less time. Product tanker supply is forecasted to grow some 3.5% y-o-y in 2025 and 6.5% y-o-y next year, while demand growth is expected to be stagnant — settling between an annual -0.5% to 0.5% growth rate this year and a 0.5-1.5% rate in 2026.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices surged this morning amid increasing concerns over possible supply shortages due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went up by USD 0.40 to reach USD 68.55 / bbl by 01.49 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged by USD 1.05 to trade at USD 65.06 / bbl.

ON A RELATED NOTE- Aramco, Somo halt supplies to India’s Nayara: Saudi Aramco and Iraq’s state oil company Somo have suspended crude oil sales to India’s Nayara Energy, following European Union sanctions imposed in July on the Russian-backed refiner, Reuters reports, citing sources it says are familiar with the matter. The US has also imposed 50% tariffs on India last month, up from 25%, in a move that aims to punish the Asian giant for Russian crude imports.

What’s on the line for Nayara? The Indian refinery typically gets around 1 mn barrels of Saudi crude and 2 mn barrels of Iraqi crude each month, but it did not receive shipments from either in August, Reuters said, citing data from Kpler and LSEG. Nayara Energy is responsible for around 8% of India’s total 5.2 mn bbl / d refining capacity.

With Gulf flows suspended, Nayara — majority-owned by Russian entities like Rosneft — sourced all of its August crude from Russia, according to LSEG data and industry sources cited by Reuters. A Russian Embassy official in New Delhi told the newswire last month that Rosneft is supplying the refiner directly.

#2- Baltic index maintains upwards trajectory: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — went down 0.1% to 2,024 points on Monday. The capesize climbed 0.8% to 2,949 points, while the panamax index dipped 1.8% to 1,813 points. The smaller supramax index rose by 2 points to reach 1,467 points.

***YOU’RE READING EnterpriseAM Logistics, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the industry that connects producers and retailers to global markets. We’re out Monday through Thursday by 9:15am in Cairo and Riyadh and 11:15am in the UAE.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Oman will host the Comex Global Technology Show on Sunday, 7 September until Wednesday, 10 September in Muscat. The event will host over 360 participants and 133 tech startups to show achievements in eGovernment, fintech, smart cities, health tech, agritech, and cybersecurity.

Saudi Arabia will host the Smart Ports and Logistics Transformation Summit on Monday, 15 September and Tuesday, 16 September in Jeddah. The summit will host over 40 global and local speakers, industry experts, and policymakers to explore smart port solutions, port operations, and logistics within Saudi Arabia.

The UAE will host the Syria Recovery and Investment Forum on Wednesday, 24 September in Abu Dhabi. The forum will host leaders in business, regional investors, policymakers, and advisory experts to develop practical solutions for Syria’s road to recovery and economic revival.

The UAE will host the Global Rail Transport Infrastructure Exhibition and Conference on Tuesday, 30 September until Thursday, 2 October in Abu Dhabi. The event will be hosted by Etihad Rail and is set to welcome over 200 global speakers and upwards of 20k industry attendees to share innovative solutions and develop partnerships.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

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