Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar.7
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Egypt refuses to extend the agreement with Turkey on marine cargo shipment by ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) type vessels, Minister of Economy of Turkey Nihat Zeybekci said, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported Mar.6.
He said that currently the sides are discussing the issue of extending the agreement on cargo shipment by ro-ro type vessels, but there are disagreements on political grounds between the two countries which arose after the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
He also said that Ankara hopes Cairo extends this agreement with Turkey.
"If the Egyptian authorities don't extend the agreement on maritime cargo shipment by ro-ro type vessels, Ankara will consider alternatives," said the minister.
Turkey launched sea shipments of ro-ro type vessels to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia in November 2012.
The shipments are carried out from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to the Egyptian port of Alexandria, and from there to the Israeli port of Haifa.
Other shipment includes transportation from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to Saudi Dubai port.
Shipments are made once a week, but it is planned to increase the number of shipments to twice a week in the future.
The main cause of the cargo transportation through the Egyptian port is to stop transportation through Syria due to the political crisis in the country.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
