International News : Middle East

Delegates from the International Transport Workers Federation meeting in Berlin on Wednesday launched a campaign to persuade all governments to commit resources to end the increasing problem of Somalia-based piracy. The group also voted "to support the inclusion, where appropriate, of armed military personnel on ships in addition to the commitment by flag states of naval vessels," but sai...

Kirk The U.S. and Indian governments announced an initiative to encourage small businesses in both countries to participate more in bilateral trade. The initiative, “Integrating U.S. and Indian Small Businesses into the Global Supply Chain,” is part of the “Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment,” signed by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Indian Minister of Commerce and I...

The International Air Transport Association this week cut in half its forecast for losses in 2010 but said the airline industry’s recovery is still mostly benefiting Asian and South American carriers. “Helped by the strong year end we have cut our estimate of 2009 net losses from $11 billion to $9.4 billion,” IATA said in its monthly economic update. “More significantly we now forecast sm...

The Iraq government will seek bids to build a $6 billion port in the southern city of Basra, Reuters reported this week. The port would be linked to a proposed $3 billion rail line to Baghdad and then to Europe. Iraqi transport officials envision the port, which would have a dredged depth of 55 feet (thus able to accommodate the world’s largest cargo ships) as competing with the Suez ...

A large dredger to help build DP World's new London Gateway terminal arrived in England over the weekend and the Times of London said it was expected to begin operation Wednesday. The terminal in Thurrock will have a capacity of 3.5 million TEUs and will be one of the most automated in the world, according to DP. DP World said most of the dredge spoils will be used to reclaim land to ...

Zim said it will introduce a service between Asia, India, Mediterranean and Europe. The Asia-Med-Europe (AME) service will employ a dozen 3,800-TEU ships and begin with the April 7 sailing from Shanghai. It will incorporate Zim's NEC line between the East Mediterranean and Europe. Port rotation is Shanghai-Da Chan Bay, Port Kelang, Nhava Sheva, Haifa, Ashdod, Felixtowe, Antwerp, Hambu...

Strong winds and sandstorms on Sunday cut traffic passing through the Suez Canal to its lowest level in two decades, international press outlets reported. Only 26 ships were able to transit the canal, which saw an average of 47 transits per day in 2009. It had been 20 years since so few ships were able to pass through the waterway, which is owned and managed by Egypt. Five ports along...

India, Brazil and Indonesia have topped the table of Transport Intelligence’s new Emerging Market Logistics Index, which the U.K.-based consultant released this week. The index ranks 38 countries from the developing world in terms of the attractiveness of their logistics markets to foreign investors. It measures the scale of opportunities through three indices: market size and growth attr...

Logistics network Descartes Systems Group, said it had net profit of $14.3 million in its fiscal year ending Jan. 31, compared to $20.2 the prior fiscal year. Revenue in the most recent fiscal year was $73.8 million versus $66 million in the prior year. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company reported its results in U.S. dollars. Geographically 59 percent of revenues were generate...