25.11.2024
Arkas Logistics Group, Port and Terminal Services Group, both operating under the umbrella of Arkas Holding, and Grimaldi Group represented by Egekont, another subsidiary of Arkas Holding, all introduced their innovations at the 17th logitrans Exhibition, held between November 20-22, 2024, in Istanbul. The exhibition, which featured 200 companies from 18 countries, brought together professional visitors and exhibitors for three days at the Yenikapi Eurasia Show and Art Center.
Continuing its growth with new companies established both domestically and internationally, Arkas Logistics Group shared details about its investments at the event. Arkas Rail and Arkas Heavy, which are part of the group, are bringing a fresh perspective to transportation. On the other hand, after the United States, India, Romania, and Poland, the group has also established a logistics company in Egypt.
Arkas Holding Vice President Diane Arcas Gocmez said, “Egypt is an important trade partner for Türkiye. On the other hand, it is a strategic country in global trade. Considering all of this, we established Arkas Logistics Egypt. We aim to become a significant player on the Egypt-Türkiye, as well as the Egypt-US/India trade routes. We will provide forwarding, transportation, and warehousing services. With our overseas companies and strong network infrastructure, we will offer seaway FCL and LCL shipments and air cargo services to our customers in Egypt. At the same time, with our owned vehicles and robust supplier base in Egypt, we will provide road transport services for containerized and non-containerized cargoes. Our open and closed warehouses will also focus on repairing and maintaining dry and reefer containers. We will implement Arkas Logistics’ end-to-end logistics services in Egypt as well.” Gocmez also stated that in 2025, Arkas Logistics will focus on the countries where it has offices and companies, prioritizing forwarding services in the US, India, and Egypt. She added, “We will particularly concentrate on the marble and mining industries, where we have expertise and have been providing services for many years. At the same time, we will increase our shipments of special equipment and reefer containers.”
Onur Gocmez, Arkas Holding Logistics Group President, shared details about the new investments that will be launched in Türkiye in 2025, stating, “Türkiye is making a major transformation in renewable energy. We are ranked 11th in the world and 5th in Europe in terms of renewable energy installed capacity. By 2025, Türkiye’s share of renewable energy in its total energy capacity is expected to surpass 60%. In line with this, we have made significant investments in 2023 and 2024. So, 2025 will be the year we start seeing these investments pay off. With Arkas Rail, we will bring a fresh perspective to railway transportation. With Arkas Heavy, we will transport and install wind turbines. We will manage the crane services used for this process from a single source.” Drawing attention to the investments being made in Turkish railways, Gocmez emphasized, “There are significant efforts to connect ports and organized industrial zones via railways. Arkas Rail will receive five dual-model locomotives, with a 40 million Euro investment, which will be operational in 2025. These locomotives, which have both electric and diesel modes, are environmentally friendly and the most powerful in freight transportation. With our locomotives and nearly 700 wagons, we will carry import-export containers from industrial zones to ports and border gates.”
At the International logitrans Transport Logistics Exhibition, the Atlas Logistics Awards were presented to their winners. Arkas Logistics Group received the “International Air Transportation Companies (Forwarder) Award” and the “Jury Special Award” for the successful transportation of Adana Airport to Cukurova Airport. The awards were presented to Berkin Akansel, Arkas Logistics General Manager, and Berna Ersan, Air Logistics and Control Tower Services & Shipeedy Logistics General Manager.
Arkas Holding Port and Terminal Services Group is also contributing to Türkiye’s domestic and foreign trade volume by making powerful investments in port and terminal operations across sea, land, and rail. In addition to the $250 million modernization project implemented at Marport, the group’s investments continue with the Autoport and Railport projects.
Arkas Holding Port and Terminal Services Group President Ozgur Kalelioglu stated that the International logitrans Transport and Logistics Exhibition provides the opportunity to showcase all components of logistics simultaneously. He said, “As one of the first organizations to invest in container terminal operations in Türkiye, the position we have reached today is the result of nearly 30 years of effort. With a total investment value exceeding 1 billion dollars, Marport is one of Türkiye’s busiest container handling terminals. We continue to invest here without slowing down, focusing on the needs of our industry. Additionally, as a group, we are continuing our investments in Autoport, Türkiye’s first automotive Ro-Ro specialized terminal, adding value to automotive logistics. However, our most recent and proudest investment is Railport, which has a direct connection to trade routes and, with its central location, is truly a hub in logistics. We are about to initiate a new era in railway transportation in our country. With our new investments, we are playing a vital role in Türkiye’s domestic and foreign trade and continuing to contribute to our country’s economy.”
Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s leading maritime companies based in Naples, was at the logitrans Exhibition to introduce its extensive service network and the new Trieste-Bari-Patras-Ambarli line. At the exhibition, Egekont, operating under the Arkas umbrella and representing Grimaldi Group since 1996, had the opportunity to showcase the group’s wide service network in the Mediterranean, Baltic, and North Seas, under the brands Grimaldi Lines, Finnlines, Minoan Lines, and Trasmed to visitors and prominent representatives of the logistics sector. During the exhibition, Grimaldi Group focused on introducing the new Trieste-Bari-Patras-Ambarli service, which will be operated with the sister vessels Eco Mediterranea and Eco Malta.
The Trieste-Bari-Patras-Ambarli service, operating twice a week from all three ports, complements the existing Grimaldi Lines routes and establishes a direct connection between Greece and Türkiye, representing an important innovation in the group’s Mediterranean maritime freight services.
The new service will use the world’s largest and most environmentally friendly hybrid Ro-Ro vessels, Eco Mediterranea and Eco Malta, which belong to the innovative “GG5G” class. In addition to being environmentally friendly, these vessels have capacities equivalent to more than 500 trailers and 180 cars, which is double the capacity of the previous Ro-Ro vessel class used by Grimaldi Group for short-distance cargo transportation. These vessels can carry wheeled cargo such as semi-trailers, vehicles, cars, vans, trucks, and project cargo.
