Turkish Airline based in Istanbul the capital of Turkey, has announced launching flights to various US destinations from East Africa via Istanbul. The airline office in Kampala, Uganda has declared that Turkish Airline will operate nonstop flights to Washington DC from Istanbul. These new flight routes will also make available convenient connections for flights to Uganda and from. Whereas, other East Africa destination connected with US through Istanbul will include flights to Nairobi in Kenya and Flights to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
At present, Turkish airline operates four flights a week However once the new schedule and route is launched the airline will be operating daily flights to Istanbul, form where connections will take off to Washington and return vice versa. The daily flights will become operations after the B777 aircraft are delivered to Turkish Airline.
The airline has also exhibited interest in starting flights to New York from summer 2011. However no exact dates of the launch are yet given. The airline will offer double daily flights to New York and increase flights to Los Angeles and Chicago to daily departures. Many other US destinations are in the final stages of planning, and details will be released in due course.
The Bilgin Yachts shipyard in Istanbul have had a very busy year so far with the delivery of no less than 4 superyachts. Their first superyacht delivered this year was the first Bilgin 123 LR Noor. She was delivered on 16th April 2010 and in May she was featured on SuperYachtTimes.com as SuperYacht of the Week.
The second delivery from the emerging shipyard was the Bilgin 108 Madness. The 33.53 metre superyacht was delivered to her owners on 25th May 2010. The RINA classed superyacht is powered by twin 1,800hp MTU 12V 2000 M93 diesel engines which enable her to reach a top speed of 22 knots and cruising speed of 18 knots.
In July the company delivered two superyachts; on 26th July the company delivered their largest yacht to date, the 39 metre Bilgin 127 Indiana and two days later on 28th July the second Bilgin 123 Tee-Dje was delivered.
Indiana was designed by the in-house team of Bilgin Yachts in co-operation with German superyacht designer Joachim Kinder. The interior of Indiana was designed by Septemar Yacht Furniture Co.
Tee-Djee, the second Bilgin 123, features an interior by the British design studio H2 Yacht Design. She has been built to RINA Charter class and MCA LY2. Power is provided by twin 2,400hp MTU Blue Line engines which should provide a speed in the region of 20 knots.
Bilgin is currently working on two larger projects; the Bilgin 145 by Joachim Kinder and the Bilgin 132 by H2 Yacht Design.
KARACHI: A Turkish ship carrying rental power plants and scheduled to enter Pakistani waters on Wednesday will be required to undergo environmental checks, among other formalities, before generating electricity for the national grid system, it emerged on Tuesday.
The ship, which is sailing from the Tuzla port, Istanbul, will be initially berthed at the Karachi Port Trust. The incoming plant has a generation capacity of an estimated 220 megawatts. – File photo
The ship, which is sailing from the Tuzla port, Istanbul, will be initially berthed at the Karachi Port Trust. The incoming plant has a generation capacity of an estimated 220 megawatts.
A coordinator for the Turkish firm Karkey Karadeniz Electrik Uretim A.S., which has been awarded a contract for the establishment and operation of rental power plants on the city’s coastline, told Dawn that the power ship named Kaya Bey is likely to be moored for power generation in the vicinity of the Korangi Thermal Power Plant on Nov 24.
In March, after a public hearing held for environmental clearance for the ship-mounted plants, chairman of Turkish firm Orhan Remzi Karadeniz had said the plants were set to be brought to Pakistan in mid-April 2010.
He had further affirmed that the necessary no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Port Qasim Authority for the berthing of the ship at the project site had been acquired and efforts were afoot to ensure compliance of the country’s environmental laws at every stage and taking necessary environmental impact mitigation measures for a safe power generation.
When contacted by this reporter, the director-general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), Naeem A. Mughal, who had issued an NOC for the power ship project, first of its kind in the country, in April last, said that a Sepa team would undertake scrutiny of the ship and verify the details provided by the proponents of the rental power project. Without Sepa approval, the plant could not operate, he said, adding that though the ship was said to be a state-of-the-art vessel, Sepa’s concerns mainly pertained to marine and air pollution.
He said that since the power plant would be placed in the province, Sepa wanted to ensure that all the system and machines used for power generation worked in conformity with the environmental laws of the country. The proponents are already in line with the conditions of Sepa’s NOC required to observe the World Bank’s set standard for noise level to minimise the possible noise impact of the project on the receptors in the surrounding, he added.
The Turkish firm was notified as the qualified bidder in the award of the contract in September 2008 for the installation, commissioning, maintenance and operation of the barge/ship-mounted power plants at Karachi on a rental basis for five years.
At the public hearing, experts had suggested certain extra facilities to be made available at the ship-mounted plants to address the issues of safe disposal of effluent and solid waste, including hazardous sludge discharge and emission of SOx, NOx, CO2 and CO from the plants.
The conditions as mentioned in Sepa’s NOC impose that the proponent shall ensure that all industrial wastewater, gaseous emission and particulate matters generated due to operation of the ship-mounted power plant are in compliance with the National Environmental Quality Standards notified for the purpose.
“The equipment for the separation of oil and grease from effluent shall be installed on board to prevent the discharge of oil and grease into the sea. Temperature, TSS, and pH of all effluents and gases being released will be controlled through effective equipment and technologies,” the conditions included.
It is further observed in the regulatory conditions that the ship will be located at an optimum distance from the fishing jetty by ensuring that the movement of fishing boats going to and from the jetty should not be affected and for this purpose consultation will be ensured with the local fishermen.
Monitoring of ambient air quality within a radius of 500 metres of the plant shall be conducted on a regular basis for CO, SOx and NOx parameters during operation of the plant in order to observe the incremental impact of the project on air quality. The result shall be provided to Sepa with the monitoring reports.
Natural vegetation of mangroves or any other species will not be destroyed or damaged or removed, and no dredging of the area will be undertaken, except with the approval of Sepa.
Among other dos and don’ts, the NOC called for the submission of an emergency response or contingency plan for any accident on the plant to Sepa, development of a complete code of health, safety and environment and strict adherence to mitigation measures recommended in the EIA report to minimise any negative environmental effect on the ecology of the project area.
The coordinator for the Turkish firm said that on the suggestions of the experts, some technical details in the environmental impact assessment reports had already been added, while all reservations of Sepa would also be addressed properly.
Replying to a question, he said his firm was already operating two power ships in Iraq. The ship being brought into Pakistan was the largest one and could be fuelled with heavy and light oil. The firm intends to bring in another ship for oil storage, the coordinator added.
About the schedule of the ship’s arrival and plant operation, the spokesman said the ship would come to the KPT at its berths 4 and 5 on Nov 18, followed by an on-board ceremony welcoming dignitaries and other concerned persons on Nov 21.
The ship would finally be moored at the rental plant’s operation site near the Ibrahim Hydery union council of Bin Qasim Town on Nov 24. Necessary stringing and interconnection from the delivery point (onboard the ship-mounted plants) to the Korangi grid station and any commercial generation from the plant may take two or three weeks more, the coordinator concluded.
By IBTimes Staff Reporter | November 16, 2010 7:12 AM EST
(Photo: REUTERS/Anatolian Anatolian) A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-400
Turkish Airlines is mulling over starting flights from destinations in South India, Levent Bilman, Turkish Ambassador to India, told ENS, adding that this would connect Indian travelers to 93 places across Europe.
“Turkish Airlines is exploring new destinations in India. Talks are on with civil aviation authority for connecting Istanbul with Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata,” he said.
Currently operating seven flights from Mumbai and Delhi, the airline plans to increase its services with more than 14 flights a week.
According to travel industry experts, Turkish Airlines will lure Indian travelers mainly for its connectivity to Europe, including destinations such as Germany, France, the UK and Russia. The airline’s connectivity to Middle East and Africa would be another attraction, they pointed out.
Tourism industry officials note that more than half the tourists visiting Europe and Russia transit through Istanbul. Therefore, Turkish Airlines’ increased service between India and Turkey would be a tourist-friendly move.
Turkish Airlines is expanding services globally. Recently the airline resumed services between Istanbul and Moscow with four flights a week, and launched nonstop flights from Istanbul to Washington DC.
South Korea’s plan to export nuclear reactors to Turkey has hit a stumbling block as both sides failed to conclude an agreement due to differences over the proper level of power prices.
Sources at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Monday that the conclusion of the deal has been delayed after marathon discussions failed to find middle ground on how to establish fair electricity prices.
After starting negotiations early this year, the two sides wanted to sign the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to build the Sinop atomic power plant on the Black Sea coast during last week’s G-20 summit held in Seoul. However, they only reached an understanding to pursue more negotiations as soon as possible to iron out outstanding differences.
The Sinop project involves the building of four 1,400-megawatt reactors at a cost of around US$20 billion. South Korea has proposed using its APR-1400 reactors that will be used for a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Moon Jae-do, head of the ministry’s resources development office, said there were lingering differences on how to ensure an adequate return on investment over an extended period of time.
“The deal with Turkey involves KEPCO and its Turkish partner setting up a joint company to arrange financing, construction and sharing of earnings through a power purchase agreement once the reactors are built,” he said. Seoul and Turkey could foot up to 30 percent of the cost with international project financing to pay for the rest.
Without going into details, the official said the two sides have not been able to see eye-to-eye on how to calculate earnings, although Turkey is carefully examining a undisclosed “improved” proposal forwarded by Seoul to break the impasse.
In addition, Seoul has said that the Turkish government must be the largest shareholder in the company.
Other government officials said Seoul “naturally” wants to receive more for electricity produced since large sums of money have to go into the construction, while Turkey wants to keep prices low to benefit its users.
“For Seoul, there is a critical need to show the public and parliament that the deal is commercially viable and would not become a burden on state-run KEPCO down the road,” said an official who declined to be identified.
He added that despite the inability to sign the IGA deal during summit talks held on Saturday between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this setback does not mean Seoul has lost the bid altogether.
The official pointed out that the two sides have engaged in long-drawn talks since March and pledged to carry out related cooperative efforts.
“Even under the initial plan, a formal deal is scheduled to be signed in the first half of 2011, with more detailed plans to be set in the second half of the year,” he said, hinting that there is no real need to rush this matter. This blueprint calls for actual construction of the first Turkish reactor to begin around 2012.
Related to lack of headway, Turkey’s media reported that Ankara’s energy minister has invited Japanese industrial giant Toshiba for talks on building the Sinop plants.
It said Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz wanted to engage in speedy negotiation processes with other countries that may be interested in the nuclear power plant deal. He said U.S. and European companies may be considered so the country can have at least two nuclear power plants in operation by 2023.
Local market experts, meanwhile, said the failure to sign the IGA over the weekend would not have any effect on local industries.
“There were some differences on power purchasing prices and what to do if there is an emergency situation, but this is not seen as a complete failure since the countries have already made considerable headway on related research and development,” said Jeong Min-kyu, an analyst at IBK Investment and Securities.
Although the setback may raise concerns that KEPCO and related companies may lose the deal, it is still more likely that South Korean businesses will nab the deal compared to foreign rivals, he said.
The expert added that speculation that Lithuania, Finland and Malaysia are interested in South Korean reactors is good news for the industry as a whole.
If Seoul signs the Turkish deal, it will be the second export contract following the UAE deal reached in late 2009.
South Korea, with 20 commercial reactors in operation, is the world’s fifth-largest producer of nuclear-based electricity in the world. The country plans to build eight more reactors by 2017 with one to go on line next month.
(Yonhap) cg
For full details on Korea Electric Power Corporation ADR (KEP) KEP. Korea Electric Power Corporation ADR (KEP) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Korea Electric Power Corporation ADR (KEP) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
via S. KOREA’S REACTOR DEAL WITH TURKEY HITS SNAG | TradingMarkets.com.
ANKARA, Turkey — The Turkish parliament may introduce a tax pardon that would relieve tax evaders of their heavy penalties in an attempt to recover revenue owed to the state.
If parliament approves the plan, the government will wipe away the hefty interest charged on unpaid taxes or bills and taxpayers will be able to pay off the original amount in smaller installments.
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Monday the pardon would include fines on unpaid taxes, social security premiums, traffic fines, water and other utility bills.
Babacan declined to say how much revenue the government hopes to regain. He denied news reports that the amount could reach 50 billion Turkish Lira ($35 billion).
Critics say the move disfavours those who pay their taxes on time.
via The Canadian Press: Turkey plans pardon for tax evaders to recoup revenue owed to the state.
At present, Turkish airline operates four flights a week However once the new schedule and route is launched the airline will be operating daily flights to Istanbul, form where connections will take off to Washington and return vice versa. The daily flights will become operations after the B777 aircraft are delivered to Turkish Airline.
