📩 29/09/2023 11:57
Arkas took its place at the Logistech Fair held between 27 September and 29 September 2023 with its companies in the Maritime, Logistics and Port and Terminal Operations group, which are its main business lines, and introduced the innovations in its services.
Izmir Fair Organization Services Culture and Art Affairs Trade Inc. Logistech Logistics, Storage and Technologies Fair Storage and Technology Fair, organized by (İZFAŞ) for the second time, offers exhibitors and visitors an experience where the entire supply and need chain of the logistics industry comes together.
Arkas employs 63 people with its 8300 companies at the fair, and its main business lines are the maritime group, logistics group, port and terminal services group companies Arkas Line, Arkas Logistics, Shipeedy Logistics, Arkas Rail, MarportAutoport, Limarve Railport and Arkas. The integrated service chain and its innovations were explained. On the first day of the fair, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç SoyerOn the second day, Arkas Holding Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors Bernard Arkas visited the stands.
Green Transportation at Arkas Line
Arkas Line CEO Can Atalay said: As Arkas Line, we have the largest container ship fleet in Turkey with 76 ships, backed by Arkas Holding's 47 years of experience in international transportation. He gave information about Arkas Line by saying, "We provide regular weekly line transportation between the Black Sea, Mediterranean and West African ports with the ships we operate."
Atalay said: “We determined our priority in 2023 as increasing the performance of our existing services. We started to introduce additional ships to some lines where we had difficulty providing weekly service. The additional ships will create approximately 30.000 TEU new capacity per year. We continue to work on new lines. We will announce our new route at the end of the year.
Various factors around the world will cause changes in supply chains. Concepts such as "friendshoring - allyshoring (providing production and resources from allied countries) - reshoring (returning to domestic production) - nearshoring (providing supplies from nearby countries)", which have recently entered our literature, are the harbingers of this change. Türkiye has the potential to attract many investments with its geographical location and quality production. Increasing production will also accelerate the Turkish maritime industry. However, in order to achieve this output, it is necessary to start investments at sea and on land now,” he said.
Atalay said, “As Arkas Line, we continue to renew the ships in the fleet in line with long-term sustainability and emission targets. Based on this, our priority agenda is to update the ships with low CII performance in our fleet with alternative ship investments compatible with eco-design and new fuel technologies. We believe that our technical and operational improvements will help us achieve our goal of reducing the environmental impact of our business and leaving a more sustainable world to future generations. On the other hand, ship orders that can use alternative fuels are, of course, on our agenda. However, due to the uncertainties in fuel supply and the fact that investments are spread over long periods such as 20 years, we are still in the process of evaluating the "best" options for Arkas Line," he said. Stating that Arkas has taken an important and concrete step in line with its sustainability goals, Atalay shared the information that they have become a member of the UN Global Compact.
The main arguments in Arkas Maritime Group's sustainability agenda and road map include carbon neutrality, supply chain sustainability, employee motivation and community participation. In these days when the importance of water increases, one of its projects attracts particular attention. With the Arkas Turmepa II waste collection vessel project, which was launched in cooperation with TURMEPA in 2006, 2 million 120 thousand liters of wastewater have been collected so far and 17 million liters of sea water has been kept clean.
Arkas Logistics is in the International Arena
Arkas Logistics continues its investments and growth with its strong organizational structure in Turkey, which stands out as one of the most important production centers in the world.
Arkas Holding Logistics Group President Onur Göçmez said, “We are increasing our offices in the most important markets of the world. We are strengthening our presence in global markets with investments that support end-to-end logistics from the USA to China. We offer door-to-door FTL/LTL final transportation, storage and customs clearance services to every region of the country with our 2023 thousand square meter closed warehouse and office, which we opened in New Jersey, USA in March 3. . We also produce logistics solutions for shipments from global markets to the USA. As a logistics group, one of our most important investments is India. India, which stands out in new trade corridors, will be effective in becoming a global player. We opened an office in Romania, where most Turkish companies operate in Europe. We will also be involved in logistics activities both between Turkey and Romania, and between Romania and European countries. On the other hand, with our office in Poland, one of Europe's largest logistics market and export centers, we also provide logistics services between Turkey-Poland, Europe-Poland, USA-Poland, Far East-Poland. "We will build bridges," he said.
Expands Intermodal Services
Sharing the information that Arkas Logistics has expanded its intermodal services in Europe, Onur Göçmez said, “Finally, a service contract for Intermodal transportation was signed between Duisport and Hupac.
Halkalı-There are train services between Duisport terminal and back. Thus, freight transportation to various European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Germany, becomes easier.
On the other hand, we also offer green logistics solutions to our producers and exporters in terms of sustainability. "We care about the negative effects of the climate crisis in our investments and we are taking steps in this direction," he said.
Sustainable Logistics with Arkas Rail
Göçmez continued his words as follows: “The other company that excites us and for which we are preparing for sustainable logistics is Arkas Rail. We will receive 2025 locomotives in 5. The locomotives, purchased with an investment of 38,5 million dollars, can also run on electricity. Environmentally friendly locomotives will carry import-export containers from Turkey's industrial cities to ports. Thus, we will offer our customers a lower-cost, faster and safer transportation service. “In addition, we continue to provide services to e-commerce platforms and SMEs by sending partial cargo by sea with Shipeedy Logistics.”
Digital Speed Brings Savings
Drawing attention to the rapidly developing need for technology in the sector, especially after the pandemic, Göçmez explained the solutions they offer in this field and said, “Arkas Logistics and Shipeedy Logistics websites have been renewed. Instant price quotes can be received and demand can be created. With the Ar-cell digital tracking system, both driver and vehicle data can be monitored instantly. Thanks to the system, we saved 8 million TL in fuel from August last year to August this year. In addition, there was a 74 percent improvement in speed violations. Thanks to digitalization, we have achieved concrete gains in the field of environment and life safety. With the "Flow Control System" developed by Ar-cell, the temperature of the products in reefer containers can be monitored uninterruptedly and instantly from the moment of loading to the point of delivery. "In the next step, we placed this system on the Ar-cell mobile application, enabling our customers to follow the entire process online with digital verification," he said.
Investments Continue in the Port and Terminal Services Group
Arkas Holding Port and Terminal Operations Group President Özgür Kalelioğlu said, “As Marport, we continue to break new ground in Turkey with the new generation terminal operating system and pioneering investments. Within the scope of the Modernization and Expansion Project, which started in 2021 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, we increased the number 7 dock from 360 meters to 450 meters. Reinforcement works of dock number 6 have started. When the project is completed, we will serve mega ships at this dock with a dock length of 400 meters. "Lastly, with the four new SSG orders we placed in 2023, we aim to increase the number of SSGs from 10 to 14 and provide service with SSGs at all docks," he said.
Özgür Kalelioğlu continued, “On the other hand, our Railport investment, which we positioned as a new Intermodal Logistics Terminal in the East-West trade corridor, continues, in partnership with Duisport, the world's largest Intermodal Logistics Terminal operator. It will serve in a total area of 337 thousand square meters and will serve on the Iron Silk Road (Baku-Tbilisi-Kars) and Asia; Railport, which will connect European Union countries via European railways, will serve as a bridge for transportation between Asia and Europe, and between Europe and the Balkan and Central Asian (CIS) countries. "Our investment, which will connect Asia and Europe, will bring about a new service concept that provides cost advantages, respects the environment, creates advantages in delivery times and, most importantly, provides significant added value to our country's economy," he said.
Providing information about Limar, one of the Arkas group companies that started operating in 1996 as the first company to invest in the port sector, Kalelioğlu said, “While we provide fast, safe and economical port services with the dynamism of the private sector in 12 different ports of Turkey with our own team and equipment support, we also provide this service "We offer the easiest solutions to our customers through the software we created specifically for them," he said.
Kalelioğlu, for Autoport, which is Turkey's "first automotive specialized port", built to meet the special port needs of the automotive industry, which is the locomotive of our national exports, and is located at a strategic point for all automotive manufacturers and distributors located in Eastern and Southern Marmara. He said, “In the process that started in 2021, we expanded our port area from 160.000 m2 to 243.000 m2. Within the scope of the ongoing Modernization and Expansion Project, by the end of 2026, we will have increased the port area to 403.000 m2 and the total ship dock length from 656 meters to 850 meters. Our port-integrated PDI facility, which supports the development of low-carbon emission logistics models and has an annual capacity of 200 thousand vehicles, started to serve in 2022. "We have also increased our capacity in this field with the new closed warehouse investment designed to suit the needs of the industry and our customers," he said.