Turkey-based Karpowership acquires US shipyard from Seatrium for USD 50.6 mn

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What we're tracking today

TODAY: Karpower acquires US shipyard for USD 50.6 mn + Turkey’s Botas has more LNG incoming

Good morning, folk. We’re heading into the weekend with a brisk read, featuring M&A, trade, and ports updates from Turkish and UAE players. Let’s dive right in.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- DP World, Hapag-Lloyd renew Brazil port pact: UAE port operator DP World has extended its agreement with global shipping line Hapag-Lloyd over container handling operations in Brazil’s Port of Santos for 10 more years, according to a press release. The agreement is a foundation for future expansions at the port by both parties, the release said.

DP World + Santos go way back: The company first landed in Santos in 2010 with the construction and expansion of its terminal for container and general cargo. The company has since invested in the port to expand its capacity and diversify the types of cargo handled. Last year, the Emirati giant signed an agreement with Brazil’s leading railway operator Rumo to establish a new terminal for grains and fertilizers at Port Santos — aiming to boost the port’s handling capacity by some 12.5 mn tons per year, including 9 mn tons of grain and 3.5 mn tons of fertilizer.

#2- Turkey, Syria, Jordan to revive Hejaz Railway: Turkish, Syrian, and Jordanian Transport Ministers have agreed on a draft MoU to re-establish the historic Hejaz Railway after a 13-year hiatus, Turkish outlet Anadolu reports, citing Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu. The Turkish side is set to build 30 km of missing infrastructure within Syrian territory to bolster Ankara’s connection to the Red Sea via the Port of Aqaba. Jordan will examine the potential to operate locomotives in Syria and look into maintenance and repair, Uraloglu reportedly said.

We’ve heard about this recently: Reviving the historic railway was reportedly on the agenda of last week’s tripartite transport minister meeting. The proposal also included reopening the Bab Al Hawa-Cilvegözü crossing, conducting joint technical studies for a railway network, and boosting the overland freight route leading to Eastern Europe from Jordan’s Aqaba port via Turkey.

#3- Space42 to launch cloud system for autonomous mobility ops: UAE space tech firm Space42 — in partnership with G42 subsidiary Core42’s Sovereign Public Cloud and Microsoft Azure — is launching the UAE’s first Sovereign Mobility Cloud, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf). The platform, which will be dedicated to powering smart mobility and autonomous vehicle operations, will enable data sharing between government and industry stakeholders. It will support key activities in the field, such as HD mapping, traffic management, fleet operations, and digital twins — virtual models of real-world objects.

REMEMBER- Microsoft, which will co-invest in the system and provide expertise, recently partnered with state AI player G42 on its Map Africa project.

This comes at a crucial time for the UAE’s autonomous mobility ambitions, with Abu Dhabi Mobility expanding its self-driving taxi rollout and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority rolling out open-road pilot testing for driverless taxis in Jumeirah and Dubai Silicon Oasis, with a commercial launch targeted for 1Q 2026, Gulf News reports. Around 60 vehicles are currently involved — 50 from Baidu and 10 from WeRide — operating with safety drivers under RTA-issued permits.

#4- SCZone wants to boost its top line by 20%: Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) is looking to raise its revenues by 20% in FY 2025-26, SCZone’s chief Walid Gamal El Din said in a statement to Asharq Business. Revenues hit EGP 11.6 bn the past fiscal year, at a growth rate of 38% y-o-y, Gamal El Din said. SCZone has already reached 50% of its annual target for inaugurated factories, and is currently in talks with local and foreign developers to prepare land plots for expansion.

DATA POINT –

DXB tops list of regional low-cost hubs: Dubai International Airport (DXB) ranked fifth worldwide and first in the Middle East among low-cost carrier hubs, according to OAG Aviation’s Megahubs 2025 report (pdf). DXB also placed 15th globally in overall connectivity ranking — up from 16th last year — thanks to Emirates’ 38% share of flights. Budget carrier flydubai accounted for 28% of flights at the airport.

MARKET WATCH–

#1- Oil prices slipped this morning as buyers pulled off new purchases amid unclear market signals on the balance of supply and demand, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went down by USD 0.26 to reach USD 69.05 / bbl by 03.50 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also fell by USD 0.27 to trade at USD 64.72 / bbl. The drop came after crude prices rallied to their highest point in seven weeks during an earlier trading session.

#2- Baltic index rallies: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was up 40 points to 2,240 on Wednesday — its highest in two months — on the back of bigger vessel segments. The capesize surged 104 points to 3,573, while the panamax index gained 25 points to 1,824. The smaller supramax index shed 3 points at 1,483.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Turkey will host the Global Freight Summit on Sunday, 28 September until Wednesday, 1 October in Istanbul. The summit will host over 330 attendees and more than 250 firms for policy and knowledge and strategies exchange between forwarding partners.

The UAE will host the African, Middle East, and Islamic Finance Aviation 100 Awards on Monday, 29 September until Wednesday, 1 October in Dubai. The event aims to highlight and reward the most remarkable transactions closed by airlines and aviation manufacturing and leasing firms.

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.

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress on Wednesday, 1 October and Thursday, 2 October in Dammam. It will host over 200 registered exhibitors and some 15k attendees from over 90 countries to discuss AI-powered fleet optimization, shifts in global trade, and intelligence-driven infrastructure.

The UK will host the Marine Environment Protection Committee Extraordinary Session from Tuesday, 14 October until Friday, 17 October at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) HQ in London. The session is set to see the intergovernmental body formally adopt its Net-Zero Framework — rolling out new fuel standards for ships and a global pricing mechanism for emissions.

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

Affiliate of Turkey’s Karpowership acquires US shipyard for USD 50.6 mn

Turkey’s Karpower snaps up US shipyard: Karpower Valley — a subsidiary of floating power plant operator Karpowership — has acquired the US-based AmFels Yard shipbuilding facility from Singapore’s Seatrium, according to a statement (pdf). The transaction — valued at SGD 65 mn (c. USD 50.6 mn) — is between Karpower Valley and the Singaporean firm’s affiliate, Seatrium AmFels, marking the Turkish player’s first such facility in the US, Reuters reports.

On the shipyard: The AmFels Yard is located in Texas’ Port of Brownsville on the Gulf of Mexico. It constructs offshore oil and gas platforms and manufactures vessels to support the energy sector. Last week, the facility delivered a USD 750 mn offshore wind turbine installation vessel — the first US-built ship of its kind, according to the newswire. Seatrium has said it will finalize all ongoing projects at the AmFels Yard by the end of 2025 to ensure a seamless transition for customers and partners.

Karpowership + Seatrium have a history: Last month, Seatrium announced it will outfit four of Karpowership’s vessels in a Singapore-based shipyard and carry out integrating them. It will also convert three older LNG carriers into FSRUs, as per a statement (pdf).

Karpowership’s latest moves in the region: Karpowership subsidiary BKPS plugged in its 300 MW powership — docked at Khor Al Zubair Port — into the Iraqi power grid last week, and a second ship — with a 290 MW capacity — is expected to dock at Umm Qasr Port.

Turkey shores up LNG imports via agreements with Mercuria, Woodside

Turkey’s state-owned Botas has signed a 20-year LNG agreement with Swiss commodity trading firm Mercuria, securing an annual supply of some 4 bn cubic meters (bcm) starting in 2026, according to a press release. The fuel will be sourced from the US and shipped to regasification facilities in Turkey, Europe, and North Africa, mostly during winter.

More LNG is coming: Botas has also signed an LNG heads of agreement with Australian energy player Woodside Energy for roughly 5.8 bcm natgas-equivalent of LNG for up to nine years starting from 2030, according to a press release (pdf). The fuel will be primarily sourced from Woodside’s Louisiana LNG project.

THE CONTEXT- Turkey is letting LNG contracts for some 16 bcm from Russia — its largest supplier — expire this year, amid rising US pressure on trading partners to sever energy ties with the country over its war in Ukraine. The agreements also come ahead of a high-level meeting happening today between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump.

REFRESHER- Turkey is embracing its role as a re-exporter to Europe — since it consumes less gas than its total capacity allows — and earlier this month signed a slew of LNG and pipeline agreements. The agreements included LNG supply pacts for at least 15 bcm cumulatively with energy giant Shell, Securing Energy for Europe, Norway’s Equinor, US-based Cherniere, Italian energy player Eni, and many others — alongside a pipeline agreement with Italian engineering group Saipem.

New AED 1 bn cross-border digital B2B trade marketplace hits UAE’s market

First cross-border digital marketplace goes live in the UAE: UAE-based holding company GlobalX Group has launched Tradex — the UAE’s first digital B2B cross-border trade dedicated marketplace, according to statements here and here. The project had an initial investment of AED 1 bn.

The launch point: The platform will debut its operations with a UAE-Iraq trade corridor — in partnership with Iraq’s national credit card company Qi Card. The corridor is earmarked to reach some AED 243 bn of trade by the end of the decade, according to a statement.

The download: The platform is designed to ease export and import processes, simplify payments, and tighten compliance across international markets. It aligns with the Emirates’ larger plans to support innovative ventures — which aim to strengthen region and international commerce, Dubai Customs Director General Abdulla Mohammed Busenad said.

Why Dubai? Dubai — which serves as a global trade facilitator — streamlines nearly AED 3 tn (USD 816 bn) in non-oil trade per year. Nearly 40% of the UAE’s exports comprise electronics, automobiles, FMCG products, textiles, and precision instruments — industries that Tradex aims to fast-track across regional and international markets.

Bns into the region’s digital economy. The introduction of Tradex signifies a mega AED 1 bn investment into its digital economy — a sector that the UAE aims to increase its contribution to the GDP by almost twofold from 9.7% in 2022 to 19.4% in 2032, according to a statement.

Updates on aviation, trucking, and e-commerce from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt

STORAGE + WAREHOUSES-

Al Ain Farms, Food Tech Valley to launch food logistics hub: Dubai government-backed food innovation center Food Tech Valley and newly formed Al Ain Farms Group signed an agreement to develop a 260k sq ft logistics hub in Dubai, according to a press release. The hub will focus on improving food security and supply chains, aiming to improve delivery times by 33% while cutting distribution times. The facility is slated for completion by 1Q 2027, with construction set to start later this year.

AVIATION-

#1- UAE-based cargo airline SolitAir is launching eight new flight destinations in Africa, according to a press release. The new routes include Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, Kenya’s Nairobi and Eldoret, Lusaka in Zambia, Johannesburg in South Africa, Harare in Zimbabwe, and Benghazi in Libya.

The rationale: The routes will offer direct access from SolitAir’s hub in Dubai World Central (DWC) to major African commercial trade hubs, and come at a time of growth for the continent — with forecast Cargo volumes to Africa set to double in the next two decades, the statement read, citing Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast.

#2- Egypt’s flagship carrier EgyptAir is set to uptake a Boeing 737-Max in January 2026 — the first of an 18-jet order secured back in 2023, according to Al Mal, citing Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s comments during his visit to the US, and a cabinet statement. This comes as the airline works on its fleet expansion goal of 125 aircraft over the next five years — up from the current 65.

#3- Thai AirAsia X will begin direct flights between Riyadh and Bangkok on 2 December, marking the AirAsia Group’s first service to Riyadh, the airline said in a statement last week. The route will run four times weekly — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays — using a 285-seat Airbus A330 with 30 premium flatbeds and 255 economy seats. The seven-and-a-half- hour flight will connect Riyadh travelers to AirAsia’s wider network across Asean, Asia, and Australia via Bangkok. Saudi nationals can enter Thailand through e-visa and visa-on-arrival options.

ICYMI- Asia’s largest budget airline AirAsia voiced its plans to set up a new hub in the GCC this year at a yet-to-be-determined Gulf airport, utilizing the region’s proximity to Europe to support the Malaysia-based airline’s plans to expand its network to more European destinations, using “a one-stop and multi-hop strategy,” CEO Tony Fernandes said last June.

TRUCKING-

Gulftainer’s Momentum uptakes new fuel-efficient trucks: Gulftainer subsidiary Momentum Logistics has received fuel-efficient Volvo trucks from Saudi commercial vehicles provider Zahid Tractor, according to a press release. Among the delivered vehicles — handed over at Momentum Logistics’ facility in Dammam — is the FH Aero model, which is touted as fuel-efficient.

E_COMMERCE-

New incentives incoming for Egyptian e-commerce players to join tax system: The Egyptian Finance Ministry is planning to introduce new incentives to encourage local and foreign e-commerce platforms operating in the country to join the tax system, government sources told EnterpriseAM. The move comes as part of a major push by the ministry to tighten its grip over the e-commerce sector.

REMEMBER- The Finance Ministry introduced regulatory amendments to the VAT Law in 2023, subjecting non-resident service providers to a value-added tax of 14%. The amendments apply VAT on transactions made on “electronic distribution platforms”, which include websites, internet portals, e-stores, and other internet marketplaces connecting suppliers with clients.

The move proved fruitful: Taxing these platforms generated some EGP 13.7 bn in e-commerce tax revenue over the past two fiscal years — a significant increase from the EGP 85 mn recorded the year prior to the move, according to one of the sources. VAT revenue collected from e-commerce activities came in at EGP 21 bn last fiscal year, marking a 101% increase from the previous FY.

AI industry needs USD 2 tn to meet demand by 2030, report says

How much investments do AI firms really need to meet soaring demand for data center capacity by the end of the decade? USD 2 tn, Bain and Co. said in its annual Global Technology Report (pdf). Demand is rising at more than twice the pace of Moore’s Law — a common benchmark that assumes the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles about every two years. Meeting this level of demand could require 200 GW of new capacity worldwide by 2030 — half of which will need to be in the US — and as much as USD 500 bn in annual data center investment.

The revenue gap: Even if companies redirected all IT budgets to the cloud and recycled AI-driven savings into infrastructure, Bain sees an USD 800 bn annual shortfall in the revenues needed to fund that buildout.

Hyperscalers are already committing record sums, with Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta expected to push combined AI spending above USD 500 bn a year by early next decade, Bloomberg Intelligence estimates. Yet, without new revenue models or major efficiency gains, the industry risks stranded infrastructure on one side or unmet demand on the other, Bain cautions.

Still, there are some wildcards. Breakthroughs in algorithms, hardware, or quantum computing could ease the crunch, but supply-chain chokepoints — from GPUs to electricity grids — remain critical risks.

DHL’s US-bound parcel shipments back on track starting today

DHL will resume standard parcel shipping to the US starting today — ending a four-week suspension that was triggered by the country revoking its de minimis rule, according to a statement. Businesses will have to book a Postal Delivered Duty Paid service for parcels valued at up to USD 800, as well as provide complete customs data for the shipment. Extra fees will apply for customs clearance and duties on all shipments — except for private gifts valued under USD 100.

ICYMI- At least 30 countries stopped shipping packages to the US worth USD 800 or less after the so-called de minimis rule ended on 29 August.

Calendar

SEPTEMBER

24-26 September (Wednesday-Friday): Routes World, Hong Kong.

25 September (Thursday): World Maritime Day.

28 September-1 October (Sunday-Wednesday): Global Freight Summit, Istanbul, Turkey.

29 September-1 October (Monday-Wednesday): African, Middle East, and Islamic Finance Aviation 100 Awards, Dubai, UAE.

30 September-2 October (Monday-Thursday): Global Rail Transport Infrastructure Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

OCTOBER

1-2 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

4 October (Saturday): Syria Recovery and Investment Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

6-8 October (Monday-Wednesday): Maritime Cyprus Conference, Limassol, Cyprus.

7-8 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Global EV and Mobility Technology (Gemtech) Forum, Riyadh.

7-9 October (Wednesday-Thursday): World Aviation Festival, Lisbon, Portugal.

13-17 October (Monday-Friday): The Marine Environment Protection Committee’s second extraordinary session, London, UK.

14-15 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Investing in Africa Conference and Expo, London, UK.

14-16 October (Tuesday-Thursday): AntwerpXL, Antwerp, Belgium.

15 October (Wednesday): Global Trade Review, Cairo, Egypt.

16-18 October (Thursday-Saturday): International Forum and Expo on Mobility, Transport and Logistics (Logiterre), Casablanca, Morocco.

28-30 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Borneo International Maritime Week, Sarawak, Malaysia.

NOVEMBER

3-6 November (Monday-Thursday): Adipec Maritime and Logistics Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

4-6 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Air Cargo Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

9-11 November (Sunday-Tuesday): TransMea Expo, Cairo, Egypt.

11-13 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Freightcamp, Bangkok, Thailand.

17-21 November (Monday-Friday): Dubai Airshow, Dubai, UAE.

18 November (Tuesday): ShipTek International Conference and Awards, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

24-26 November (Monday-Wednesday): World Advanced Manufacturing Logistics Summit and Expo, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DECEMBER

9-10 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Rail Industry Summit, El Jadida, Morocco.

16-17 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Saudi Airport Exhibition, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

JANUARY 2026

19-23 January (Monday-Friday): World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos, Switzerland.

27-28 January (Tuesday-Wednesday): SkyMove Air Cargo MENA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

27-28 January (Tuesday-Wednesday): Middle East ProcureTech Summit, Dubai, UAE.

FEBRUARY 2026

4-5 February (Wednesday-Thursday): Breakbulk Middle East, Dubai, UAE.

4-5 February (Wednesday-Thursday): MRO Middle East, Dubai, UAE.

25-27 February (Wednesday-Friday): Air Cargo Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

MARCH 2026

10-12 March (Tuesday-Thursday): World Cargo Symposium, Lima, Peru.

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