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FREIGHT FORWARDING-
Bahri Logistics to provide freight forwarding for SAR:National Saudi shipping firm Bahri subsidiary Bahri Logistics will become Saudi railway operator Saudi Arabia Railways ’ (SAR) primary freight forwarding services provider, under a three-year agreement the two companies inked, according to a press release. Bahri Logistics will handle SAR’s exports and imports.
ALSO FROM BAHRI-Bahri’s desalinated water shipping project to kick off operations in 2H 2024: Bahri’s barges for its agreement with state-owned Saudi firm Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) are undergoing testing and commissioning and are expected to begin initial and commercial operation by 2H 2024, according to a Tadawul disclosure.
Background: The barges come as part of Bahri’s 20-year SAR 760 mn agreement it signed back in 2019 to establish three floating stations to desalinate water and transfer it to desalination tanks. Each station is expected to have a capacity of some 50k cubic meters per day with a total capacity of 150k cubic meters a day. The project was initially expected to go online in 2020, but was stalled due to a delay in environmental clearances on the back of changes to state bodies, the disclosure said.
ENERGY-
Qatar Energy has inked a five-year crude oil supply agreement with Shell Singapore, according to a press release. The agreement will see the delivery of up to 18 mn barrels per annum of Qatar Land and Qatar Marine crude oils to Shell starting this month. This is Qatar’s first ever five-year crude sales agreement, Qatar Energy CEO Saad Al Kaabi said.
TRADE-
Jordan imposes restrictions on export of essential goods: Jordan will regulate the export and re-export of essential goods, including rice, corn, sunflower, palm, sugar, soybean oil, Arab News reports. The move comes amid rising shipping costs resulting from Red Sea shipping disruptions.
SHIPPING + MARITIME-
Ocean Network Express and Samudera Shipping Line (Samu) have added King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam to a shipping service linking it with six Asian ports, according to a Mawani statement. The new shipping service — dubbed SIG — is set to connect the port to various destinations in South East Asia and India, including Singapore; Nhava Sheva, Mundra, andKochi in India; Colombo in Sri Lanka; and Jebel Ali in the UAE. The service will see weekly trips using a vessel with a capacity for 2.7k TEUs.
Berth 2 at Iraq’s Al Faw Port has been completed, according to a Iraqi Transport Ministry statement. Iraq is upgrading Faw Port with five new berths, which will be used for unloading 1.8k-meter-long ships. It is also establishing a container yard that can hold up to some 2 mn containers annually, the statement adds.
EVs-
Oman to ramp-up EV charging facilities: Oman plans to have an estimated 22k electric vehicles on its roads by 2030, Oman Daily Observer quotes Transport, Communications, and Information Minister Said Hamood al Maawali as saying in the Energy and Minerals newsletter. Oman will add an additional 350 public chargers, distributed across key arterial and public roads by 2026, to facilitate the EV expansion project.
Retrofitting heavy trucks + port crane electrification are also on the cards: The Transport Ministry has also released a seven-year roadmap for large-scale retrofitting of heavy trucks to have them operate on a combination of diesel and hydrogen, and is exploring the electrification of port cranes and smart applications to reduce emissions in port operations.
UAE’s Wize eyes Saudi expansion: Emirati mobility startup Wize aims to expand into Saudi Arabia to electrify its last-mile delivery sector after securing a USD 16 mn pre-seed funding round in November, Arab News reports.
INFRASTRUCTURE-
Iran and Azerbaijan have opened a cross-border bridge to streamline the transit of goods between them, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reports. The EUR 5.8 mn bridge — which spans 89 meters in length and over 30 meters in width — parallels the Baku-Astara freeway, extending to the Astara border. The bridge should also facilitate the movement of goods to countries in Eastern Europe and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The new bridge now completes the route from Astara to Baku, linking the freeway to Iranian land routes.
ALSO WORTH KNOWING-
- Kezad + Excel Astra sign lease agreement: Emirati contractor Excel Astra Engineering & Construction has inked a 50-year lease agreement with AD Port’s Kezad to establish a facility in Kezad Al Mamourah that is expected to boost the country’s export potential. (Statement)
- ITA Airways flies to KSA: Italy’s ITA Airways will launch three weekly direct flights between Rome Fiumicino International Airport and Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport from 1 August until 29 March 2025. (Statement)
- Saudi Arabia Airlines flies to Bangladesh: Saudia will operate three weekly direct flights from Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport to Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, Bangladesh starting March 2024. (Business Standard)
- Jazeera halts CTG route: Kuwaiti Airline Jazeera has reportedly suspended its Chattogram-Kuwait-Jeddah flight route at the start of the month. (Business Standard)
- Kuwait Airways adds to its fleet: Kuwait Airways took delivery of its ninth Airbus A320neo aircraft, growing its fleet size to 33 aircrafts. (AAC)
- Air Arabia flies to Kabul: UAE Airline Air Arabia plans to launch flights from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Kabul, Afghanistan starting 10 January. (Statement)
