High returns lure wealthy investors to fund coal as banks exit

Bloomberg News | July 22, 2024 | 

Stock image.

Wealthy Australians, in search of attractive investment returns, are emerging as an important pool of capital for financing coal projects shunned by banks due to environmental, social and governance concerns.


Income Asset Management Group Ltd. is one fund manager targeting the well-off in Australia to provide private loans to coal and other mining companies, offering investment returns of about of 12% to 13% per year.

“We can go into non-ESG deals as well like mining if a return on the credit works because our investors have appetite for good returns,” Varuna Gunatillake, director, debt capital markets at IAM said in an interview in Melbourne.

The firm has placed over A$500 million ($335 million) of loans in the last three years in coal and commodity-related infrastructure projects. Those included a piece of Whitehaven Coal Ltd.’s recent $1.1 billion private credit loan, and A$170 million in junior debt to Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Pty’s coal terminal in New South Wales. It earns a placement fee for each transaction.

For IAM, the rising demand for private credit globally dovetails with a growing interest among some individual investors in Australia for coal and other resource bets that offer strong returns.

Strident opposition to coal developments in the country has been tempered by a slowdown in renewable energy project investments. Developers have had to wrestle with rising costs, lengthy approval processes and capacity constraints in the transmission grid.

A recent decision by Origin Energy Ltd. to push back the closure of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station by two years amid fears of power shortfalls underscores the dilemma posed by the slower-than-expected transition.

As a result, the financing pipeline for coal-related projects in Australia is healthy, notwithstanding opposition from ESG proponents and a pull back by traditional lenders. Some of Australia’s major banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp., have committed to limit or refrain from lending to thermal coal miners.

A unit of India’s Adani Group recently got a A$500 million private credit loan from non-bank lenders Farallon Capital Management and King Street Capital Management, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. Meanwhile, a consortium led by Indonesia’s Widjaja family sounded out private credit funds to finance its acquisition of a coal mine in Australia from South32 Ltd.

IAM recognized the growing opportunity to earn strong returns from businesses — particularly in mining and mining services — that have been shunned by commercial lenders and institutional investors. IAM has more than A$3 billion in assets under administration including cash deposits, bonds and treasury management, according to information on its website.

“We can be the conduit between these two opportunities and connect the high net worth customers to these institutional deals that are not accessible easily” for the wealthy, Gunatillake said.

The potential pool of liquidity from high-net worth individuals in Australia is enormous. Capgemini, in a June report, estimated wealthy Australians had investable assets of more than $1 trillion in 2023. Overall, high-net worth individuals globally had assets worth $86.8 trillion.
Untested market

The $1.7 trillion private credit market is relatively new, and largely untested in a credit crunch. It remains to be seen if individual investors have enough understanding of the risks of lending to complex projects.

“These family offices and high-net worth clients are highly sophisticated investors,” said Gunatillake. “They have their own financial advisers, investment managers, legal experts and in-house analysts.”

However, Axel Dalman, head of research at Market Forces, an environmental activist group, warned retail investors against investing in a sector shut out of public debt markets.

“Investors need to see the writing on the wall and recognize that coal is a dying market,” he said. “The big banks understand that ESG risk is financial risk, and private creditors may learn that the hard way.”

(By Sharon Klyne)

Australia’s largest iron ore deposits are 

1 billion years younger than we thought

THE CONVERSATION 

Published: July 22, 2024

Iron ore is the key ingredient in steel production. One of the fundamental resources for the Australian economy, it contributes A$124 billion in national income each year.

This is not surprising, considering Western Australia is home to some of Earth’s largest iron ore deposits, and 96% of Australia’s iron ore comes from this state. Yet despite the metal’s significance, we still don’t know exactly how and when iron deposits formed within the continent.

In new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we answer some of these questions by directly measuring radioactive elements in iron oxide minerals which form the basis of these resources.

We found that several of Western Australia’s richest iron deposits – such as Mt Tom Price and Mt Whaleback – are up to 1 billion years younger than previously understood. This redefines how we think about iron deposits at all scales: from the mining site to supercontinents. It also provides clues on how we might be able to find more iron.

Punurrunha or Mt Bruce, part of the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Julie Burgher/Flickr, CC BY-NC

Where does iron ore come from?

Billions of years ago, Earth’s oceans were rich in iron. Then early bacteria started photosynthesising and rapidly introduced huge amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere and oceans. This oxygen combined with iron in the oceans, causing it to settle on the sea floor.

Today, these 2.45-billion-year-old sedimentary rock deposits are called banded iron formations. They represent a unique archive of the interactions between Earth’s continents, oceans and atmosphere through time. And, of course, banded iron formations are what we mine for iron ore.

These sedimentary deposits have distinctive, rhythmic bands of reddish iron and paler silica. They were alternately laid down on the sea floor seasonally. Such remarkable rocks can be visited today in Karijini National Park, WA.

Typical banded iron formation at Fortescue Falls in Kaijini National Park, Western Australia. Graeme Churchard/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

The iron content of these banded iron formations is generally less than 30%. For the rock to become economically viable to mine, it must be naturally converted by later processes to around 60% iron.

The nature of this rock conversion is still debated. In simplest terms, a fluid – such as water – will both remove silica and introduce more iron during an “upgrading” process which transforms the rock’s original makeup.

The geochronology (age dating) of this chemical transformation and upgrading is not well understood, largely because the tools required to directly date the iron minerals have only recently become available.

Previous age estimates for the Pilbara iron deposits were indirect but suggested they were at least 2.2 billion years old.
What did we find out?

You may think of iron ore as rusty, red-coloured dust. However, it’s typically a hard, heavy, steely-blue material. When crushed into a fine powder, iron ore turns red. So the red landscape we see across the Pilbara today is a result of the weathering of iron minerals from beneath our feet

.
1.3-billion-year-old steel blue iron ore extracted from Hamersley Province, Western Australia. Liam Courtney-Davies

We extracted microscopic scale “fresh” iron minerals from drill core samples at several of the most significant Western Australian iron deposits.

Leveraging recent advancements in radiometric dating, we measured naturally occurring radioactive elements in the rocks. In particular, the ratio of uranium to lead isotopes in a sample can reveal how long ago individual mineral grains crystallised.

Using the newly generated iron mineral age data, we constructed the first-ever timeline of the formation of Western Australia’s major iron deposits.

We discovered that all major iron ore deposits in the region formed between 1.4 and 1.1 billion years ago, making them up to 1 billion years younger than previous estimates.

These deposits formed in conjunction with major tectonic events, especially the breakup and reemergence of supercontinents. It shows just how dynamic our planet’s history is, and how complex the processes are that led to the formation of the iron ore we use today.

Now that we know that giant ore deposits are linked to changes in the supercontinent cycle, we can use this knowledge to better predict the places where we are more likely to discover more iron ore.

Liam Courtney-Davies completed this research while at John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University.

Author

Liam Courtney-Davies
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Colorado Boulder
Disclosure statement
Liam Courtney-Davies received funding for this research through the MRIWA 557 Project and the Australian Research Council.

Rio Tinto ready to build Simandou after almost 30 years of setbacks

Cecilia Jamasmie | July 16, 2024 |

The Tin Djou mining camp at the Simandou project. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto Simfer | Facebook.)

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) said on Tuesday it has all necessary regulatory approvals to resume construction at its vast Simandou iron ore asset, the world’s biggest mining project, which it is co-developing with a Chinese consortium (WCS) in Guinea.


Set to be the world’s largest and highest grade new iron ore mine, the project will add around 5% to global seaborne supply when it comes on line. Rio Tinto owns two of the four Simandou mining blocks as part of its Simfer joint venture with China’s Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the government of Guinea. Rio Tinto holds a 53% stake, while CIOH holds the rest.

A second mine, the WCS project, will be built by Baowu — the world’s largest steel producer — in partnership with a consortium led by Singapore-based Winning International Group.

Rio Tinto first secured an exploration license for Simandou in 1997. Since then, the country has experienced two coup d’états, seen four heads of state and undergone three presidential elections.

The project involves the construction of a 552km rail line to transport high-grade iron ore from two new mines in the Simandou mountains — one to be built and operated by Rio Tinto — to a new deep water port on Guinea’s Atlantic coast.
“Only” $11.6 billion needed to start

Rio Tinto estimates the development requires initial funding of about $11.6 billion. The company’s annual capital investment from 2024 to 2026 has been pegged at about $10 billion, with the majority going to Simandou as spending winds down at the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia beyond this year.

The company noted that CIOH has fulfilled its financial obligations by making two payments to cover its share of capital expenditures for critical works carried out by Simfer.

Rio said the first payment of around $410 million was made on June 28, covering expenses up to the end of 2023, and the second payment of about $575 million, for 2024 expenditures, was made on July 11. These payments settle all expenses incurred up to the current date.
Construction of Simandou has faced delays over the past 27 years.

The infrastructure capacity developed in collaboration will be split equally between Simfer and WCS, with Simfer focusing on blocks 3 and 4 for a 60 million tonne per year mine, and WCS developing blocks 1 and 2 of Simandou.

Simandou is slated to begin commercial production by the end of 2025, adding an annual supply of around 120 million tonnes of high-quality iron ore after it reaches full capacity.

Rio Tinto, which reported second-quarter iron ore shipments below analyst estimates earlier on Tuesday, said its share of expected capital investment remaining to be spent in Simandou now sits at $5.7 billion, counting from the beginning of 2024.

Simandou has faced construction delays due to legal disputes, local political changes, and the challenges and expenses of building out 600 km rail and port infrastructure.

SUDBURY 

HOME OF THE MOON LANDING

Vale to open new copper-nickel mine in Ontario

Staff Writer | July 22, 2024 | 11:18 am Top Companies Canada Copper Nickel

The old Copper Cliff nickel mine. (Image courtesy of Vale Agency.)

Vale Base Metals is set to open a new open pit mine at the historic Stobie mine site in Sudbury, Ontario. This project is expected to cost C$205 million ($149m) over the next four years.


The new Stobie mine will produce nickel and copper, with an initial production target of 300,000 tonnes nickel and copper this year, ramping up to 1.5 million tonnes annually by 2025, continuing until 2027 or 2028. The project will also yield valuable by-products such as cobalt and precious metals.

Gord Gilpin, director of Ontario operations for Vale Base Metals, highlighted the significance of this venture. “This is a C$205 million project that marks a new era of cooperation and partnership.”

He also emphasized the involvement of local contractors including Indigenous businesses Z’Gamok Construction and Aki-Eh Dibinwewziwin, as well as the United Steelworkers union.

“This project is not just about mining; it’s about creating sustainable and inclusive growth,” Gilpin added.

The Stobie mine will be managed by mining contractor Thiess and will employ members of USW Local 6500.

“We will have approximately 62 to 80 new members during the lifetime of this project, with existing employees handling maintenance,” said a union spokesperson. Jobs will include roles such as excavator operators, dozer operators, haulage truck drivers and maintenance workers.

Vale sees this project as more than just a mining endeavour. “This is the beginning of a legacy of collaboration, respect, and mutual benefit,” said Gilpin. He believes that the success of the Stobie project could be replicated at other sites, contributing to the overall growth strategy for Vale in the next decade.

Work has already begun at the Stobie site, and Gilpin anticipates that full-scale mining production is expected to start soon.

The Stobie pit is the first phase of Vale’s C$945 million plans to revitalize the copper complex in Sudbury.

SASKATCHEWAN

BHP’s potash mine in Canada now 50% ready

Cecilia Jamasmie | July 22, 2024 

Jansen potash mine is more than 50% ready, with phase 2 underway.

(Image courtesy of BHP.)

BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) said on Monday that the first phase of its massive Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, has reached and surpassed the halfway point of completion.


The world’s biggest miner noted that phase two was now underway with the project on track to reach first production in 2026, with expected potash output of 4.2 million tonnes a year.

BHP said the focus will now be on completing the mill building, processing plant and port construction, all while finalizing infrastructure and preparing to transfer the project to operations.

“Building one of the largest potash mines in the world requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, and the province has really come together to make a project of this magnitude possible,” BHP’s potash president, Karina Gistelinck, said in the statement.

CONSTRUCTION OF JANSEN’S SECOND PHASE IS EXPECTED TO TAKE SIX YEARS AND DELIVER FIRST PRODUCTION IN 2029.

Construction of Jansen’s second phase is expected to take six years and deliver first production in 2029. The company has said this stage needs an investment of C$6.4 billion ($4.9 billion).

Located 140 km east of Saskatoon, the Jansen project is set to become one of the world’s largest producers of potash, a commodity considered to be a pillar of future growth for the company. It also represents the single largest private economic investment in the province’s history.

Since giving the project its go-ahead in August 2021, BHP has been injecting capital to speed up its development even when potash prices were falling. Even before its approval, the group had spent $4.5 billion on the project.

The proposed potash mine is being built in four stages, with $5.7 billion already spent on the first stage alone. In October last year, BHP announced plans to expand the Jansen project, approving a further $4.9 billion investment for stage two. This brings BHP’s total investment in Jansen to date to about C$14 billion ($10bn).

BHP anticipates that Jansen will become one of the world’s largest potash mines, producing 8.5 million tonnes per annum and boosting global production by an estimated 10%.

Potash is part of Canada’s critical minerals list due to its importance as a key soil nutrient, essential for ensuring global food security. Australia has not yet classified potash as a strategic mineral.

GUESS WHO

Senators Introduce Bill to Shorten Approval Time of Energy and Mining Projects

By Charles Kennedy - Jul 23, 2024

A bill sponsored by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin and Senator John Barrasso proposes giving the Department of Energy 90 days to approve new LNG export projects and aims to shorten approval times for energy and mining projects.

“The United States of America is blessed with abundant natural resources that have powered our nation to greatness and allow us to help our friends and allies around the world,” Manchin said in a press release. “Unfortunately, today our outdated permitting system is stifling our economic growth, geopolitical strength, and ability to reduce emissions.”

To address the problem, the two legislators “put together a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation that will speed up permitting and provide more certainty for all types of energy and mineral projects without bypassing important protections for our environment and impacted communities.”

In a news story on the bill, Bloomberg noted that it was unlikely to be passed as it is but it could make an important part of future energy legislation during the next Congress.

The focus of the bill is on shortening approval times for new energy and mining projects, as well as grid expansion projects that regulators have warned are essential for a changing energy system that relies increasingly on wind and solar generation capacity.

Manchin and Barrasso are among vocal critics of President Biden’s so-called pause on new LNG export capacity approvals, which came into effect earlier this year under pressure from climate activists, who argued natural gas is even worse for the climate than coal. The move prompted more than a dozen states to sue the federal government. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the pause.

In his ruling, Judge Cain said that the government’s move had been arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional and that it had violated the Natural Gas Act. Judge Cain added that the Department of Energy had gone “above and beyond its scope of authority.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

US Senators release energy permitting reform bill

Staff Writer | July 22, 2024 

US Senator Joe Manchin. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

US Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY), on behalf of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released on Monday the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024.


The legislation could speed up approvals of clean-energy, pipeline and electricity transmission projects by shortening some federal environmental reviews and setting limits on court challenges.

“The United States of America is blessed with abundant natural resources that have powered our nation to greatness and allow us to help our friends and allies around the world,” Manchin said in a news release. “Unfortunately, today our outdated permitting system is stifling our economic growth, geopolitical strength, and ability to reduce emissions.”

He went on to say that the bill is a result of over a year of hearings in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, considering input from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and negotiations. Manchin currently serves as Chairman of the Committee.

It signals a win for West Virginia Senator Manchin, previously a Democrat, now serving as an Independent, after a previously stalled legislative effort to fast-track energy projects. A bid to attach the energy-permitting package was dropped from must-pass government funding legislation in the Senate last year when it didn’t have the votes.

“A commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation will speed up permitting and provide more certainty for all types of energy and mineral projects without bypassing important protections for our environment and impacted communities,” Manchin continued.

“The Energy Permitting Reform Act will advance American energy once again to bring down prices, create domestic jobs, and allow us to continue in our role as a global energy leader.”

“Washington’s disastrous permitting system has shackled American energy production and punished families in Wyoming and across our country. Congress must step in and fix this process,” added Barrasso, Ranking Member of the Committee. “Our bipartisan bill secures future access to oil and gas resources on federal lands and waters.”

The American Exploration & Mining Association (AEMA) released a statement on Tuesday applauding the bill.

“Our inefficient federal permitting system is a significant deterrent to attracting investment in the United States to explore for and develop strategic mineral resources, and it has resulted in the US being increasingly reliant on foreign countries,” AEMA executive director Mark Compton said in the statement.

“The permitting reforms in this deal are a good start, and we look forward to working with both sides of the aisle to see they become law.”

Full text of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 can be found here.

Study: Warming Waters Will Cause Serious Declines in Regional Fisheries

Chinese distant-water fishing vessels on the high seas of the North Pacific (U.S. Coast Guard file image)

PUBLISHED JUL 21, 2024 10:40 PM BY DIALOGUE EARTH

 

 

Global fish catches are likely to plunge if the planet warms by just a few degrees, according to one of the most comprehensive attempts to model this understudied topic. 

The projections are based on the quantity of fish in the sea, rather than focusing on catches. But the finding raises serious concerns for commercial fishers and coastal communities who rely on fish to feed themselves and their families.

Nearly 50 countries and territories face a reduction of 30% or more in their exploitable fish if warming reaches 3 to 4C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, according to a report launched by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week.

Holding warming to 1.5 to 2C by achieving net-zero emissions around 2050 would stabilize losses to less than 10% for most countries and territories.  

If every nation achieves its climate action targets, the world would still be on track for a global average temperature rise of 2.5 to 2.9C, according to a UN report from 2023.

The FAO research lead, Julia Blanchard, says fishers with effective management could adapt to likely losses under the 1.5-2C low-emissions scenario. But it would become “quite frightening” with the 3-4C high-emissions scenario. 

Blanchard hopes her latest work will build an even stronger case for cutting emissions when policymakers update their climate action plans and targets, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Nations are due to revise their NDCs by early 2025 under the Paris Agreement.

Fleeing fish means some nations suffer more

A warming ocean reduces nutrient flow from deeper waters to surface layers where many fish live. It decreases the amount of tiny organisms, known as phytoplankton, living near the sea surface and even their average size. This undercuts the base of the marine food web.

Fish generally grow and feed at faster rates in a hotter environment. When their food supply is not sufficient for faster growing, they maintain their body sizes, ending up smaller.

Blanchard’s study projects the “exploitable fish biomass” – meaning the combined weight of fish of between 10g and 100kg – across all countries and territories under low- and high-emissions scenarios. 

The impacts it shows are widespread, with some top fish-producing countries facing particularly significant losses if emissions remain high.

By 2100, exploitable fish biomass within Peru’s exclusive economic zone – the area of ocean stretching 200 nautical miles from its coastline – would likely decline by 37%, and China’s could see a 31% decline. Small island states that are already struggling with the impacts of climate change, including Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands, could see decreases of over 40%.

By 2050, all these countries are likely to face a 10% decline in their potentially catchable fish, the work finds.

If warming does not exceed 2C, declines for all these nations would be kept to a maximum of 13% by the end of the century. 

As ocean temperatures increase, fish biomass in some regions, including the Arctic Ocean, may even increase. But Blanchard says where increases are seen, different models cannot agree on the direction of change. The authors have “very low confidence” in estimated increases.

She also notes that the research models climate impacts on fish but not compounding pressures such as fishing and other human activities. Her team are still working on factoring fishing itself into projections. 

Multiple models deliver ‘best available science’

Scientists who were not involved in the research say the cutting-edge approach of the work provides an unmatched understanding of the range of climate impacts on fisheries.

Instead of applying one or two models, the researchers behind the study used an “ensemble”. This included two Earth system models, which project changing ocean conditions, and up to nine ecosystem models, which capture ecological responses to these conditions. 

Elliott Hazen, a marine spatial ecologist at the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA), says this is one of the first efforts to use this ensemble modeling approach for fisheries.

“It’s really exciting to see,” he says. “They are not just taking one realization of the future. They’re looking at multiple models … to come up with the best available science.” 

Hazen says he has already seen the effects modeled in this work unfolding in the ocean. 

In 2014 and 2015, record-breaking marine heatwaves swept through the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Pacific cod and snow crabs in the Bering Sea went from being abundant to disappearing, Hazen says. 

“Disappearing doesn’t mean that they’re all dead, necessarily. There’s some hope that they moved into other regions,” says Hazen. “But from where we monitor, the change was sudden and stark.” 

Models that project climate change impacts on fisheries often show a linear change over a long period. But events such as the marine heatwaves demonstrate that “the expression of climate change is much more punctuated,” Hazen adds. Large and fast changes such as heat waves can lead to rapid changes in animal numbers.

Time for action

To adapt to climate change, Manuel Barange, the assistant director general of the FAO and one of the report’s authors, says nations should ensure they have institutions capable of managing changes in their fisheries. This could include bilateral or regional institutions to help manage new species that arrive in their waters and those of neighbouring nations.

Policymakers could also support fishers by adding post-harvesting processing to add value to catches, and by providing alternative employment. Risk management, such as setting up insurance to support communities to face future changes, can also help, Barange adds.

Michelle Tigchelaar, an interdisciplinary climate scientist at WorldFish who was not involved in the research, points out that climate models focus on broad trends. “They won’t tell you what is specifically going to happen to this specific species.” 

Looking into how species composition changes within different regions under climate change will be important for future work, she adds. 

Despite these uncertainties, Tigchelaar says the report strengthens the argument that scientists know enough for policymakers to take action now.

“I don’t think we need to sit around and wait for a lot more evidence to come in before prioritizing climate adaptation in fisheries,” Tigchelaar says. “Fisheries need to rise much higher on the climate agenda.”

The key message, experts say, is that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to lessen damage to fisheries.

“The more we continue to emit at the higher emission scenarios, the less able we’ll be to recover from this,” says Hazen of NOAA.

“What this [report] is saying is if we do make a change, we can rapidly recover and minimize the impacts of warming.” 

Regina Lam is an ocean and special projects assistant editor at Dialogue Earth, based in London. She joined in 2021 and has worked at major Hong Kong newspapers and has reported for the BBC World Service. She holds an MSc in global affairs from King’s College London.  

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here. 

 

DP World and Evyap Group Complete Merger to Boost Turkish Trade

DP World and Evyapport will combine operations to improve efficiency and expand Turkey's trade (DP World)

PUBLISHED JUL 22, 2024 6:38 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

DP World and Turkey’s Evyap Group completed a strategic merger, bringing together the strengths of two of Turkey’s major ports on the Marmara Sea to create a new international logistics hub that they hope will elevate Turkey’s global trade. The terminals are operating currently at near full capacity.

Under the terms of the agreement approved last week by Turkey’s Competition Authority, DP World gains a 58 percent stake in Evyapport, while Evyap Group secures a 42 percent share of DP World Yar?mca. The two ports will operate under a unified brand and management. 

DP World executives called Turkey one of the group’s most important markets. The merger they said would enhance end-to-end solutions and provide new benefits in speed and efficiency. Increasing throughput is seen as one of the immediate opportunities to address the lack of capacity at the terminals.

"This is an exciting partnership that will bring significant economic benefits to Türkiye and the wider region,” said Kris Adams, CEO of DP World Türkiye

DP World Yar?mca has an annual capacity of 1.15 million TEU and can berth up to four vessels. Its largest two berths are each approximately 1,500 feet in length and they highlight superior technology that can reach 120 movements per hour. Located close to the highway and rail system the port also employs eight remotely controlled STS cranes and has technical competence with 23 rows.

Evyapport started its operations with a liquid terminal in 2003 and added the container terminal in 2005. Its docks were expanded over time to its current length of approximately 1,500 feet. Today, Evyapport can handle super post panamax ships with its 3,800-foot berth and a water depth of 60 feet. It has an annual capacity of 855,000 TEUs, 1,120,000 tons of liquid cargo, and 500,000 tons of general cargo handling.

Mehmed Evyap, founder and CEO of Evyap Holding, predicted, “The new company will shorten operation times, increase service diversity, and add value to our customers and Turkey’s trade with efficiencies achieved across the two partnership terminals."

The merger will produce a combined 6,850 feet of berthing space which will allow more than one ultra-large container vessel simultaneously at both terminals. The total annual container handling capacity will also exceed two million TEUs. The companies highlight they will also have integrated operations which will expand to include project and heavy-lift cargo services. 

They expect the combination to position DP World Evyap as a key player in the region's logistics operations and they believe it promises to boost Turkey’s export and import volumes while acting as a catalyst of growth for new industries. 

 

Iranian Navy Raises Capsized Frigate Sahand From the Water

Courtesy Iranian Navy (via state media)

PUBLISHED JUL 21, 2024 3:35 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

On Friday night, the Iranian Navy raised the capsized frigate Sahand from the water at the port of Bandar Abbas, according to state media. 

Using a large floating crane from Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex (ISOICO), along with engineering units, the Iranian Navy carried out a parbuckling operation to right the vessel. The claim of a successful full refloat attempt could not immediately be verified. 

The frigate capsized on July 7 during repair work alongside the pier at the ISOICO yard. The cause was accidental flooding related to "water seepage" into unspecified tanks, according to the Iranian Navy.  

The service still hopes to repair the vessel and return it to front-line operations. However, saltwater immersion quickly damages electronic and mechanical systems, and a replacement vessel is often a less costly option. When the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad partially sank in 2018, she was recovered in one piece - but was scrapped due to the high cost of removing and replacing all of her saltwater-damaged mission systems. If the Iranian Navy opts for repairs, it could be months (or longer) before the vessel returns to service.

While unconfirmed, open-source intelligence discussions suggest that weight growth from recent weapon upgrades above the main deck (above) could have reduced the vessel's stability. Changes during the yard period - for example, draining Sahand's tanks for repair work - could also have left the vessel top-heavy if not appropriately managed. 

Sister ship IRIS Damavand sank in the Caspian in January 2018 after hitting a breakwater at the port of Bandar-e Anzali. Damavand was damaged beyond repair and never returned to service. Another sister ship, the brand-new IRIS Talayieh, fell off its blocks during drydock float-out in December 2021.  

ZIONIST WAR FEVER

Israeli Air Force Destroys Tank Farm at Port of Hodeidah, Yemen

Image via Houthi social media

PUBLISHED JUL 20, 2024 10:07 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE\

[Updated] On Saturday evening, the Israeli Air Force bombed the port of Hodeidah, Yemen in retaliation for the Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv last week. 

Israeli F-15 strike fighters made the 1,000-nautical-mile flight to northeastern Yemen at about 1800 hours Saturday. In several waves, they struck a fuel storage depot and a power station near the main seaport, just north of the city. A spokesperson for the Israeli military acknowledged that these were "dual use" targets, with civilian as well as military utility. 

As of Sunday, at least six people were dead and another 83 wounded by the attack, according to Houthi sources.  

Hodeidah's fuel terminal is adjacent to its dry bulk and container terminals, which handle the majority of food aid and other goods for the population of northern Yemen. Any damage to these facilities - whether from the initial attack, or from subsequent spreading fire - would impact food distribution. Fuel shortages from the destruction of the tank farm could also complicate the process of getting goods from the quayside to people in need.

"The Israeli response on destroying Hudaydah port will not have a significant impact on the Houthi ballistic weapons or drone capabilities. Rather it will actually worsen the already severe humanitarian crisis in Yemen," warned Farea Al-Muslimi, a Chatham House fellow, in an interview with Newsweek. 

In a statement, the Israeli military noted that the port is also a hub for covert Iranian weapons shipments to the Houthis. Iran's drone and missile systems are essential for Houthi attacks on merchant shipping and on neighboring states, and many of these weapons shipments have been intercepted by U.S. and allied forces. 

The Israeli military asserted that there was no involvement by UK or U.S. forces in the strike. The attack on the port was far larger and far more damaging to the Yemeni economy than any of the Anglo-British attacks of the last few months. 

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said Saturday that the group "will respond to this blatant aggression" and will continue its attacks on Israel. He pledged that Houthi forces will continue their militant activities until Israel ends its operation against Hamas in Gaza. 

The Israeli strike was in retaliation for a drone attack on the city of Tel Aviv on Friday, which killed one resident and injured 10. It was a rare instance of a hostile drone penetrating Israeli air defenses, and the Houthis immediately took credit, claiming that they had fielded a new drone model that was invisible to Israeli radar. The Israeli Defense Forces identified the drone as an upgraded Iranian Samad-3, a conventional UAV previously used by the Houthis to attack American shipping; the IDF said that the incoming aerial vehicle was spotted, but it was not identified as a threat because of human error. 
 
"The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required," said Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday. 

Houthi forces attempted to strike back Sunday with a ballistic missile attack on Eilat, Israel's southernmost seaport. The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement that the threat was shot down. 

"The projectile did not cross into Israeli territory. Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling shrapnel," the IDF said in a statement.