The Iraqi Oil Tankers Company has extended the deadline for tenders for the purchase or construction of a crude oil tanker to Monday (April 23).

The vessel should have a deadweight of at least 6,000 metric tons, and, bizarrely, the tender document states that the year of build should be 2011.

According to Bloomberg, the tanker will be the Iraqi government’s third state-owned oil transport vessel, as it currently operates two 13,500-ton tankers bought in 2007 and 2008.

Please click here to view the tender document.

Najaf Airport saw the landing of the first Kuwaiti passenger plane in 22 years on Tuesday, according to AKnews

The Jazeera Airways Airbus 320 landed at 6pm carrying the ambassadors of the two countries. The low-fare airline is expected to operate two flights per week between the countries.

The flight comes after the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Kuwait last month to resolve the two-decades long disputes with Kuwait. The PM agreed with Kuwaiti authorities on March 14 that Iraq will pay $500 million in debts to Kuwait.

(Source: AKnews)

Iraq will offer contracts for the construction of eight cargo ships over the next four years in an effort to expand its fleet, reports Bloomberg.

The government also expects to take delivery of a $14 million cargo vessel in the next two weeks. The vessel, built by the Avic Dingheng Shipbuilding Company of China, is named the “Baghdad” and will have a loading capacity of 7,800 metric tons, Sameer Abdul Razzaqthe, director general of the state naval transport company, told the news agency.

Iraq signed a $73 million contract in December with South Korea’s Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. for three vessels due for delivery in 26 months.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The Director General of the Private Transport Section of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Abdullah Laibi, outlined the opening of the new $14 million passenger terminal adjacent to Karbala airport.

Designed to ease congestion between Najaf and Karbala, the new 2,000 car parking facility integrates accommodation, restaurant facilities making access to the airport for pilgrims from Syria, Iran, northern Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It is expected that 10,000 people a day will use the facility, and more at peak religious festivals.

The design has been completed by the University of Baghdad and the construction by an Iraqi construction company “done by Iraqi’s for Iraqi’s”.

A similar facility will be built in Najaf this year and then others built in all the major passenger hubs.

Iraq’s Transportation Ministry sent a crew of five sailors to China to take delivery of a new $14m (16.3bn IQD) ship for the Iraqi fleet.

The Iraqi Naval Transportation Company contracted China’s ANT to construct the 7,000-ton ship, which will carry goods from China to Iraq and will “reinforce Iraqi marine trade”.

This brings to nine the number of large ships in the Iraqi fleet, with a total value of $110m (128bn IQD).

(Source: AKnews)

Bloomberg reports that Iraq is attracting the attention of global automakers including General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen.

Western cars were shut out of the Iraqi market by sanctions during the Saddam Hussein era, and even today there are many old VW Passats that were shipped to Iraq from Brazil between 1983 and 1990 in exchange for oil.

Now rising incomes and safer streets are fueling demand for new cars such as Chrysler‘s Dodge Charger (pictured), nicknamed “Obama” after the U.S. president by Iraqis.

Another car popular among Iraqis is the Samand, a sedan manufactured by Iran Khodro Company.

With a population of more than 30 million people and a growing economy, Iraq’s auto market has “huge potential,” said Stefan Mecha, VW’s managing director for the Middle East, projecting industrywide sales to rise by a third this year to 120,000 vehicles. Demand could get much bigger.

In neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has a population slightly smaller than Iraq’s, there are about 6.5 million registered cars, according to IHS Automotive. That’s about five times the 1.35 million vehicles in Iraq, according to Hamid Algharbawi, owner of a high-end car dealership in Baghdad. Official data aren’t available.

Iraq holds “a lot of promise,” said Larry Prein, Ford’s managing director for the Middle East. Ford expects sales to double this year after tripling to 2,000 in 2011.

Niva Car Ltd., Ford’s dealer in Iraq, plans to invest $200 million over the next three years to open new outlets to tap the rising demand, said Mohammad Fuad Alanaswah, the dealer’s chief. “It’s a tough market to be in, but it is growing,” said Alanaswah. “We believe in our market. That’s why we are expanding.”

GM plans to invest in new showrooms and service centers in Iraq after initially entering the market in 2003 by selling to the government, U.S. forces and aid organizations, said John Stadwick, head of GM’s Middle East operations.

Last year, GM’s sales surged 68 percent to 32,000 cars, making Iraq its second- largest market in the region after Saudi Arabia.

(Sources: Bloomberg, Digital Trends)

The European Commission has imposed fines totalling 169 million euros on 14 freight forwarding companies for conspiring to fix the prices of surcharges.

In 2003, soon after the UK introduced electronic declarations for exports, the companies broke the law by conspiring to levy a surcharge for this reporting service, according to the Financial Times. They agreed on a “peak season” surcharge in the run-up to Christmas. The activity continued until 2007.

One of the four cartels involved, known as the “gardening club”, disguised its activities by using code words such as “fresh marrow” and “asparagus”, while the individual members were referred to by such names as “Head Planter”, “Horticulturalist”, and “Gardener”.

The main fines were levied on Kuehne & Nagel, the Swiss logistics group, which was fined €53.7 million, and Panalpina, another Swiss group, which must pay €46.5 million.

Also fined were Deutsche Bahn and its Schenker and Bax units, Ceva, Agility, Yusen Air & Sea,  Kintetsu World Express, Toll Global Forwarding, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, United Parcel Service (UPS), UTi Worldwide Inc. (UTIW), Expeditors International of Washington, Nippon Express, and DSV.

Deutsche Post, and its subsidiaries DHL and Exel, received immunity from fines after informing regulators about the cartel.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s competition commissioner, said:

“The fact that such deliberate organised illegality can still take place today is shocking. We will continue to fight cartels as our number one priority, because they are the most harmful illegal activity breaching our competition rules.”

“Because the businesses that used freight forwarders to import and export goods are numerous, the negative consequences on the whole economy are very clear. Ultimately the final consumer of the goods transported may also have to pay higher prices.”

 (Sources: Financial Times, Bloomberg)

Turkish Airlines hopes to increase the number of flights between Turkey and Basra from four to seven per week.

Farouk Qaimagja, of the Turkish Consulate in Basra, told AKnews:

“We are working seriously to reach this number of flights per week. We hope that this will be achieved as soon as possible through the cooperation of Basra airport management and the provision of the necessary requirements … The Turkish Airlines is also working to reduce the ticket prices to be suitable for all Iraqi citizens.“

The company already increased the number of flights between Turkey and Basra at the beginning of this month from two a week to four.

(Source: AKnews)