Turkish sea transport firm to buy new ship with EBRD loan

ISTANBUL

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it providing a boost to the Turkish shipping industry with a 27.5 million euro loan to fast-growing sea transportation firm Alternative Transport that will help it realize its international potential. 

The loan will finance the acquisition of a new roll-on/rolloff (ro-ro) cargo ship, according to an EBRD statement, which was released on July 20. 

Alternative Transport is investing in a new 55.5 million euro vessel with a capacity of 283 trailers to carry wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the vessel, read the statement. 

In addition, a 4.5 million euro junior loan will be provided under the EBRD’s Green Logistics Program, which is funded by the Global Environment Facility, it added. 

Turkey’s İş Bank is extending a parallel loan of 16 million euros. 

The new cargo ship will enable the firm’s much-needed expansion on the route connecting the Istanbul port of Haydarpaşa and the north-eastern Italian port city of Trieste, increasing profitability and operating efficiency, according to the statement 

The EBRD has previously financed the acquision of the other three ships on this route. 

Sea shipping is the leading mode of transport for Turkish international trade, both by value and volume.

Over 60 per cent of imports and 55 percent of exports, by value, are seaborne. Trucks heading to western Europe are increasingly turning to sea transport which provides lower costs and more diverse, more predictable and more efficient services.  

Ro-ro vessels form an integral part of developing the “motorways of the sea”, an international vision to transform shipping into a genuine, more environmentally friendly alternative to overcrowded land transport.