Ain Sokhna News

China has called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea that have dramatically widened the Hamas-Israel conflict and placed Beijing's commercial interests along the Suez Canal at risk.The Iran-backed Houthi militia from Yemen that seeks "Death to Israel" is challenging the ability of the world's biggest trading nation to defend billions in strategic investments in Egypt.Since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014, China has stepped up its investment and commercial activities along Egypt's Suez Canal…

Egypt’s SUMED pipeline operator Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company (SUMED) has completed the tailshaft conversion to Thordon’s SXL seawater-lubricated bearing system for seven special purpose single point mooring (SPM) service boats.The final vessel in a series of 17.5m (57.4ft) long, 1976–built service boats had its original oil-lubricated tailshaft bearings replaced with the Thordon system at Nefertiti Marine’s Yard-K, in Rosetta Nile, in December 2022. The first vessel, SUMED 10…

CK Hutchison Holdings port unit said on Thursday it would invest about $700 million in two major Egyptian ports, bringing its total investment in the country to more than $1.5 billion.Hutchison Ports said it would invest in the development of a new container terminal in the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna, and in B100, a new container terminal in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria.In a separate statement, Cosco Shipping Ports Limited said it would invest 25% in the Sokhna New Container Terminal - a new terminal built by the Egyptian government.The operating period for the project is 30 years…

Abu Dhabi's AD Ports Group and the Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a Term Sheet and a Head of Terms agreement for what they say are major port projects along Egypt’s coastline, including multi-purpose terminals, and cruise ship berths.The first agreement will see AD Ports Group develop, operate, and manage a multi-purpose terminal in Safaga Port in a consortium with the Red Sea Ports Authority and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals Company, the commercial arm of…

Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone signed an agreement worth $3 billion to produce up to 350,000 tonnes of green energy for fueling ships in Ain Sokhna with a consortium that includes EDF Renewables EDF.PA and the Egyptian sovereign wealth fund, the cabinet said on Wednesday.Egypt also signed an agreement with AMEA Power of the United Arab Emirates to produce up to 390,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year in Ain Sokhna, the cabinet statement added.(Reuters - Reporting by Momen Saeed Atallah; Writing by Lina Najem; Editing by Edmund Blair)

A blockade of Sudan's main Red Sea port by a local tribal group and threats of more disruptions have hurt efforts to lift the country out of economic crisis and could push trade flows to another regional route, officials and shipping executives say.Several shipping firms were forced to pause bookings via Port Sudan, the African nation's main international trade gateway that generates vital revenue for the cash-strapped state that is trying to recover from three years of political turmoil.The port…

Egypt has closed eight ports owing to bad weather, officials said on Monday.The ports of Port Tawfiq, El-Zayteyat and Sharm El Sheikh were shut early Monday morning, the Red Sea Ports Authority said.The ports of Adabiya, Ain Sokhna, Port Said West, Port Said East and Al Arish were also shut later on Monday, a statement from the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone said.The ports are expected to re-open as soon as weather conditions imporve, the statement said.(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed and Amal Abbas Writing by Sarah El Safty Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)

Egypt had previously closed four ports on the Red Sea and two on the Mediterranean due to bad weather, officials said on Sunday.Over the weekend, the ports of Suez and Zeitiyat were shut in Suez governorate, the Red Sea Ports Authority said. Adabiya and Ain Sokhna ports, in the same governorate, also closed, a source at the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone said.Today, Egypt reopened four ports on the Red Sea on Monday, a day after they were closed due to bad weather conditions, authorities said.

International floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Höegh LNG said it has decided to amend the Höegh Gallant FSRU time charter with Egypt Natural Gas Holdings Company (EGAS)."We have agreed to amend the Höegh Gallant time charter. Under the amended contract, the Höegh Gallant will be chartered as an LNG carrier to a third party, and Egas will compensate for the rate difference between the original FSRU contract and the new LNG carrier time charter," said a press statement from the Norway-based company.The amended contract is expected to become effective in October 2018 and will run to April 2020, the termination date of the original five-year FSRU contract…

A giant vessel docked at the port of Moheshkhali in Bangladesh two months ago, propelling the populous but poor nation into the fast-expanding club of liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers.The Excellence is the latest floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a type of carrier that has proliferated since 2015 as many countries switch to a cleaner and increasingly cheaper fuel than oil and coal.But the young FSRU industry has been beset by more project delays than successes in the past 12 months as fluctuating energy prices…

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed by DP World, Egypt’s Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport and the Suez Canal Authority is aiming to develop a new Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Egypt’s 6th of October City, a satellite town in the Giza Governorate and part of the urban area of Cairo. The three partners will bid for the government contract for the project later this year. The proposed ICD will increase the flow of cargo between ships and major land transportation networks in the country, creating a central distribution point. Under the MoU, DP World will lead and represent the alliance in the bidding process and become the ICD operator if the tender is won.

Cosco Shipping, one of the largest shipbuilders in China has signed an agreement with TEDA Corporation of Egypt to build a 130,000 square meters logistics zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Set in Ain Sokhna, the park aims to create 300 new jobs in Egypt while forwarding the Chinese government's Bely and Road Initiative which aims to make China a major logistics provider internationally. The industrial park will include a textiles compound, a company  manufacturing motorbikes and a large center for logistics. The first phase of construction of the TEDA-Suez zone has already been completed and the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone has signed a contract worth $60 million with China Jushi, a Chinese fiberglass manufacturer.

Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mameish and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem signed an initial partnership agreement in the UAE to establish a major development company for the development of Ain Sokhna, Al-Ahram daily reported. The partnership was first announced in August following talks between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayen and Mamish. The Suez Canal project includes the development of a 460 square-kilometer economic zone around the canal that the government says will be develop as an international industrial and logistics hub that will attract ships and generate foreign investment.

DP World and Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) have is planning to increase the capacity of Egypt’s Sokhna port located south of Suez Canal, off the Red Sea coast, Egypt’s official State Information Service reported. DP World’s chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and GAFI CEO Mohamed Khodair have discussed the next phase of development in Ain Sokhna. The development will increase the capacity of Sokhna port, which sits south of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea on a maritime trade route from Asia to the Middle East and beyond. Sultan bin Sulayem cited Egypt's strategic location and other assets as drivers of investment and international trade in the coming period. The majority of Egypt-bound cargo from the east is imported via Sokhna.

LNG market in Egypt is projected to surpass 4.5 MMT by 2025, due to rising demand from power and industrial sectors in the country, says TechSci Research report. Production of dry natural gas in Egypt declined at a CAGR of 7.17% during 2011-2015. Thus, imports of LNG in the country increased during 2011-2015, and this trend is further anticipated to continue during the forecast period as well. Ministry of Electricity announced capacity addition of 2.25 GW in August 2016, with an investment of USD2.2 billion. Therefore, growing demand for electricity and rising application in various industries is expected to boost demand for LNG in Egypt during 2016-2025. In 2015, Greater Cairo Region dominated LNG market in Egypt owing to growing demand for power and rapid industrialization in the region.

BP's diversion of a tanker of liquefied natural gas (LNG) away from Egypt due to payment issues is the first sign that the country's currency crisis could be jeopardising its energy supplies, traders said. Earlier this month the tanker British Sapphire was diverted to Brazil rather than discharging in Egypt, with the delivery of the LNG cargo for Egypt delayed up until October, traders said. BP declined to comment. Egypt's state-owned EGAS was not available to comment. Egypt has been struggling to pay for U.S. dollar-priced oil products and LNG due to an acute foreign currency crisis, worsened by the Russian airliner disaster in October, which hit tourism revenue.

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and the Red Sea Ports Authority signed an agreement with Dubai Ports World (DP World) and Sonker Bunkering Company for the development of Egypt’s Ain Sokhna seaport, reports Egypt Independent. The signing of the deal comes in line with directives by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to upgrade the sea port’s status as part of the broader scheme to develop the Suez Canal region, SCA chief Mohab Mamish said. The joint venture will be responsible for installing a new harbor parallel to the current oil tanker harbor over a period of one year, Mamish said. He added that the undertaking would facilitate the exchange of petrochemical and gas products.

Norway-based BW Gas will provide Egypt with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating import terminal under a five-year contract. This comes as as the North African country's government grapples with energy shortages. "BW has been selected by The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to provide LNG regasification services utilizing a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Ain Sokhna, Egypt," said a statement from the company. The floating regasification and import terminal, which converts super-cooled LNG into gas, is Egypt’s second. An import terminal from Norway’s Hoegh LNG arrived in Egypt in April, allowing Egypt to begin LNG imports. The new terminal will have a capacity of 750 million cubic feet per day, the official said.

Egypt received a cargo of liquefied natural gas from Australia after the exporter sent two shipments to the region in the past two years, signaling increasing demand, reports The Daily Star. The Woodside Rogers tanker arrived at Egypt's Ain Sokhna terminal Thursday after loading at Australia's Dampier port on May 12, according to ship-tracking data on Bloomberg. The 159,760-cubic-metre cargo aboard the Woodside Rogers loaded at the port of Dampier, which serves as the loading point for two LNG export plants, Pluto and North West Shelf. Both plants are operated by Woodside Petroleum. Egypt has emerged as a major new market for LNG as it looks to ease its worst energy crunch in decades. Falling output and rising demand have transformed it from an oil and gas exporter to a net importer.