Ad Ports and CMA CGM sign agreement in Syria
Ad Ports Group has signed an agreement with the French group CMA CGM to acquire a 20% stake in Latakia International Container Terminal (LICT), Syria’s main container port, for 81 million dirhams (22 million dollars). The deal, signed in Abu Dhabi, establishes a joint venture aimed at upgrading the terminal’s infrastructure and digital systems. LICT handles over 95% of Syria’s container throughput. CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of CMA CGM, has operated the terminal since 2009 and renewed its thirty-year concession in May. The current capacity of 250,000 TEU is expected to rise to 625,000 by the end of 2026. The operation aims to strengthen cooperation between the two groups and revive Latakia’s role as a strategic hub in the Eastern Mediterranean. Through its subsidiary GFS, Ad Ports Group also plans new feeder services that will include calls at Latakia. The Emirati group and CMA CGM are already partners in several projects, including CMA Terminals Khalifa Port and the multipurpose terminal in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo.
TT-Line orders new ferries in China
German shipping company TT-Line has confirmed a new order for two large ro-pax ferries to be built at CMHI Jinling shipyard in China. According to industry sources, the deal consolidates the company’s collaboration with China Merchants Heavy Industry, which built its previous vessels, Nils Holgersson and Peter Pan. The new ships are part of the operator’s “Green Ships” programme, focused on cutting emissions and adopting LNG or dual-fuel propulsion systems. TT-Line, which operates Baltic Sea routes between Germany, Sweden and Poland, aims to boost its freight and passenger capacity with this investment. The decision to once again award the contract to a Chinese shipyard reflects the growing influence of Asian builders in the ro-pax segment, now leading in competitiveness and low-impact technologies. The order responds to rising demand for short sea transport in the Baltic, aligned with the European maritime sector’s decarbonisation goals.
Avg Gsa to represent DHL Aviation in Malaysia
From 1 November 2025, Avg Gsa Services, the Malaysian subsidiary of the ECS Group, has been officially appointed general sales agent for DHL Aviation in Malaysia. The agreement covers DHL Aviation’s cargo flights from Kuala Lumpur and Penang to Singapore and Hong Kong, with additional capacity available via road links through Singapore. DHL Aviation connects Malaysia with major global markets using a dedicated aircraft fleet, including Airbus A320s and Boeing 767s, serving destinations across Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Europe. According to ECS Group, Avg Gsa’s appointment aligns with DHL’s expansion phase in Asia, driven by Malaysia’s growing importance as a manufacturing and transit hub. The country ranks among DHL’s 20 fastest-growing markets. Malaysian exports include complex electronic components, medical devices and e-commerce goods.
New Unseenlabs satellite launch
Unseenlabs has announced the upcoming launch of satellites BRO-17 and BRO-20 as part of the “Level Twenty” mission, scheduled for November from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission in partnership with Exolaunch. With this launch, the French company marks a new milestone in expanding its BRO constellation, dedicated to space-based radio frequency detection. The Unseenlabs system identifies and locates vessels that may not appear in conventional monitoring networks by intercepting their electromagnetic emissions. Founded in 2015, the company has been selected by the European Space Agency under the Copernicus Contributing Missions programme. Its technology relies on a mono-satellite approach, enabling signal geolocation with a single sensor, providing fast, easily exploitable data. Each satellite covers an average of 300,000 km² per pass and performs several thousand RF detections daily.
Spring Gds simplifies US shipments
Spring Gds has launched its Postal Delivered Duty Paid service for e-commerce shipments to the United States, offering customs-cleared deliveries with no unexpected costs for end customers. The initiative follows the removal of the 800-dollar de minimis threshold in August 2025, which made all imports subject to duties and taxes. The PDDP solution, developed under an agreement between PostNL—Spring Gds’s parent company—and the US Postal Service, enables fully compliant and traceable shipments. The service ensures advance payment of duties, calculated according to value and country-of-origin tariffs under the IEEPA framework, ensuring predictability and transparency for businesses and consumers. Using USPS for final delivery, PDDP covers the entire US territory, including Hawaii and Alaska. Designed for lightweight parcels and frequent shipments, the system integrates management and tracking in a single platform. For shipments exceeding 800 dollars (680 euros), Spring Gds offers its Commercial DDP service, providing greater flexibility for complex logistics.
