Good morning, folks. It’s a quieter morning on the news front, but we have a handful of updates on all those green hydrogen agreements inked in Egypt this week along with a significant update from Adnoc.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The ACI Europe Annual Congress is kicking off today in Istanbul and will run until Thursday. The event will gather airport executives and representatives from airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and other stakeholders globally to discuss the aviation industry, geopolitics, sustainability, and the diversification of revenues.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Egypt’s Arab Contractors is in talks with Afreximbank over a USD 50 mn loan to fund its logistics services area near the Suez Canal, managing director Mohamed Mandour told Asharq Business. The area will serve the mostly agricultural area of El Salheya and house warehouses along with foreign and locally owned factories.

#2- Danish shipping firm Maersk has dropped out of the acquisitions race to snap up logistics firm DB Schenker, Reuters reports. The company conducted an in-depth investigation into the firm and “identified areas of challenges from an integration perspective,” leading it to conclude that “acquiring DB Schenker would not be the right thing to do for [their] business at this time,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said.

REMEMBER- Deutsche Bahn had chosen last month Maersk, DSV, Saudi national shipping carrier Bahri, and CVC’s consortium with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and GIC for the final round of bidding for its logistics subsidiary DB Schenker.

#3- India and Iran are looking to fasttrack a new 700 km railway between Iran’s Chabahar Port and Zahedan city, two officials told India Shipping News. The rail route, part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, will accelerate the movement of container and dry bulk cargo between the two countries. An MoU to develop the railway line was inked between India’s Indian Railways’ IRCON and Iranian Railways’ Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company back in 2016, according to the news outlet.

REMEMBER- A USD 370 mn 10-year contract was signed in May between Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organisation of Iran to manage and develop Chabahar port.

#4- The US Justice Department plans to criminally charge Boeing with fraud over two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in 346 fatalities, Reuters reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The US Justice Department is reportedly pushing for Boeing to avoid a lengthy trial by pleading guilty and paying a USD 487.2 mn penalty — of which Boeing would only pay half of due to a previous settlement — in addition to being placed under three-year oversight by an independent monitor. Boeing will be taken to trial if it refuses the offer and has until the end of the week to respond, the newswire writes.

#5- Ships will start carrying less heavy fuel in the Arctic: The United Nations' InternationalMaritime Organization (IMO) has implemented a regulation banning ships from using or carrying heavy bunker fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters yesterday, Reuters reports. The ban, which was adopted by IMO in 2021 and took effect on July 1, aims to prevent HFO spills that could harm the region's delicate ecosystem and species and will cut around a third of HFO carried and 16% of HFO used in Arctic waters. The regulation will be fully enforced by 2029, following the expiration of several exemptions.

The regulation isn’t in full effect yet: The regulation has exemptions which currently apply to ships built since 2017 with protected fuel tanks, reducing the likelihood of spills. Arctic coastal nations have the authority to issue waivers for ships operating in sovereign waters until 2029, with more than half of the 2019 Arctic fleet eligible for waivers. Canada, for instance, plans to issue waivers for vessels supplying food and fuel to Arctic communities until 2026. Environmental groups argue that the ban falls short, as it does not fully address the issue of black carbon emissions from ships, which accelerate ice melting due to the climate crisis.

It’s still a bumpy road: The enforcement of the new HFO regulations may be influenced by Western sanctions and the compliance of Russia, which has yet to implement the ban. The impact of the sanctions has already been seen in the delayed enforcement of high sulphur fuel oil regulations globally.

DISRUPTION WATCH-

Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for attacking four ships on the Red Sea and Mediterranean in the past week, Reuters reports. US forces also destroyed seven Houthi drones and a control station vehicle within Yemen, the US Central Command post on X.

MARKET WATCH-

Oil prices maintained a two-month high on back of increased summer demand and fear of disruption by Hurricane Beryl on US oil refining and offshore production, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures registered USD 86.80 a barrel by 03.13 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose to USD 83.53 a barrel.

The Drewry LNG Shipping Equity Index spiked up 26.4% as of 27 June, outperforming the S&P 500, which rose 14.9 during the same period, Drewry reports. Gains in the index were driven by a boost to Nakilat and Golar LNG stock prices, which were buoyed by Nakilat’s order of 25 conventional LNG vessels and nine QC-Max LNG ships from QatarEnergy, as well as growing interest from potential buyers in Golar FLNG solution, Drewry said.

PSA-

German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd’s terminal and infrastructure arm has rebanded to Hanseatic Global Terminals, according to a statement. Hanseatic manages a portfolio of 20 container terminals in 11 countries including Terminal TC3 in Morocco’s Tangier Port and Terminal 2 in Egypt’s Damietta Port.