Wüstenschiff

The Turkish shipping company Sabay Shipping is scheduled to begin Roll-on Roll-off (Ro-Ro) services from the southern İskenderun Port to Syria’s Tartus Port for the transportation of Turkish exports to Gulf and Arab countries in an effort to revive the economies of border cities [...] Ro-Ro services will begin Sept. 5 with a registered Egyptian ship making four journeys four times a week [...] Aymen said Turkish goods, especially the fresh fruits, vegetables and [legumes] which should be transported for sale immediately, will be carried out by these ferries to the Tartus Port where they will then be loaded onto TIR trucks with Arab license plates in Tartus for transportation to countries like Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Plans for the Ro-Ro service were drawn up following demands from business owners in the southern region of Turkey, Aymen said. The most intense demand came from Hatay and Gaziantep, two cities located along the Syrian border whose economies have suffered because of the Syrian crisis. “There are already ferry services going from Turkey through the Alexander Port of Egypt for the transportation of Turkish trade goods, however, it takes a very long time for fresh fruits and vegetables to reach their destination this way. These new ferry services will make it much faster and cheaper to transfer these kind of goods,” Aymen said.