Good morning, lovely people. It’s another brisk day in the logistics world, but we have a lot of shipping news from across the region, so let’s dive in.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Deme + Archirodon consortium awarded dredging contract for Neom Port: A consortium comprising of Dutch EPC contractor Archirodon and Belgian dredging and marine infrastructure firm Deme Group have been awarded a dredging contract for the second phase of transformation work at the port of Neom, in Oxagon.

^^ We have everything on this story and more in the news well, below.

Norwegian tanker hit by Houthi rocket in the Red Sea: A Norwegian tanker, the STRINDA, was struck by a rocket around 60 nautical miles north of the Bab al Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, Reuters reports. Yemen’s Houthis launched the attack after the crew refused to respond to warnings, a Houthi military spokesperson said, adding that they targeted the ship because it was heading for Israeli ports. However, the shipping company operating the vessel says it was Italy-bound. A US Navy destroyer, the USS Mason, responded to the tanker’s mayday call and rendered assistance. The attack caused a fire and damage to the vessel, but resulted in no casualties, and the tanker was rerouted towards a safe port.

Background: Yemen’s Houthi movement has said it will target any ship in the Red Sea that is headed for Israel regardless of its nationality earlier this week, in an escalation of previous threats to attack Israeli vessels amid its ongoing war in Gaza..

More renewables logistics + storage agreements: Oman’s state-owned Hydrom signed an MoU with Asyad Group to build a strategic partnership to strengthen Oman’s logistics sector in order to support the green hydrogen projects coming down the pipeline, Oman News Agency reports. The signing took place during Oman’s Green Hydrogen Summit. There are no further details on specific projects or initiatives. The Oman National Engineering and Investment Company also launched a renewable energy storage firm, Takhzeen, during the summit, the news agency added.

WATCH THIS SPACE-Hungary wants Qatar Investment Authority to get in on Budapest Airport purchase: Hungary aims to attract the Qatar Investment Authority to a consortium the government is forming for the purchase of Budapest Airport, Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy told Bloomberg. An acquisition agreement is close to being finalized, but the signing could take place next year due to the complexity of the negotiations, Nagy said. Buyers are negotiating the price with the three current owners of the airport as well as 10 debit holders.

What would Qatar’s role be? The fund could join either as a financial or strategic investor, Nagy said. French infrastructure group Vinci was also tapped for the acquisition, with plans for a Hungarian state-owned vehicle to buy a 51% stake.

Background: The Hungarian government aims to expand the airport following the acquisition by building a third terminal to increase capacity for both passenger and cargo services. Qatari involvement was first suggested by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Qatar Economic Forum in May.

DATA POINT- The Saudi Ports Authority(Mawani) saw container throughput rise 16.85% y-o-y growth to 737.5k TEUs in November, according to a statement. Container exports increased 15.95% y-o-y to 212k TEUs, while imported containers saw an 18.67% y-o-y increase to 224k TEUs. Transshipments rose 16.16% y-o-y to 300k TEUs. General cargo volumes totalled 891k tons, dry bulk cargo reached 3.5 mn tons, and liquid bulk cargo was at 11.2 mn tons, the statement adds. Cargo throughput dropped 6.13% y-o-y to 23 mn tons.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- Food Africa Cairo 2023 kicked off yesterday and continues until tomorrow at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Egypt. The three-day agro-food exhibition brings together wholesalers, distributors, and retailers to create a network between international traders and vendors with their counterparts from Egypt, MENA, and Africa. The event aims to address the different needs of buyers and importers and to serve new markets in Egypt and Africa.

#2- South Korea wrap trade talks with GCC: South Korea has been holding talks with GCC states over a trade agreement, with negotiations kicking off Monday and running until today in Riyadh, KSA, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports. The talks are led by KSA Director-General Raja Al-Marzouqi and his South Korean counterpart Chang Sung-gil, and focus on working out differences that have stalled talks in the past, the news agency adds.

Background: The two sides held their eighth round of negotiations in Seoul in October, marking the resumption of talks which had been stalled since 2010.

#3- Egyptian trade mission in Saudi: The Engineering Export Council of Egypt started a weeklong trade mission to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The delegation is hoping to drum up orders and investments from the kingdom for pumps, car parts, boilers, and everything in between.

#4- TheOperational Excellence Conference (OPEXKSA) concludes today at the Four Seasons in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The event will look at topics within key sectors, including logistics, including strengthening financial sustainability. Some 100 speakers and experts will be present, including private logistics firms, according to the website.

#6- TheDubai International Food Safety Conferencealso wraps today at the Dubai World Trade Center. The event will look at the impact of climate change on food supply chains and safety, and will bring together some 3k industry experts, academics, institutions, local and regional organizations to exchange experience, knowledge, innovations for discussions around the challenges and trends in the sector, according to a press release.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Turkey this month to discuss bilateral ties, as well as proposals by the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce for boosting bilateral trade, including through a potential trade agreement, state-aligned Tasnim News Agency quotes chairman of the chamber Mehrdad Saadat as saying. Saadat said that Iran’s trade with Europe could grow by taking advantage of Turkey’s trade capacities.

The Iran-UAE Joint Economic Cooperation Commission meeting will be held in the coming weeks in a bid to develop bilateral cooperation, deepen commercial ties, and boost trade. The location has yet to be announced.

The International Exhibition of Transportation, Logistics, and Related Industries (Iran Trans Expo 2023) will take place on 18-20 December at the Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Campus (Mossala) in Tehran, Iran. The event is organized by Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, the Transport and Urban Development Ministry, and the Fund for Innovation and Prosperity of Unions and Associations.

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