Safexpress, India’s largest supply chain & logistics company, has launched its ultra-modern Logistics Park in Hyderabad, Telangana. This state-of-the-art facility is strategically located on Nagpur Hyderabad NH – 44. On this occasion, senior dignitaries from Safexpress were present to launch the Safexpress Logistics Park at Hyderabad, Telangana. The facility is spread over a land area of 3 Lakh square feet, enabled with ultra-modern transshipment and 3PL facilities, which will boost storage & warehousing needs of this region while providing for faster connectivity. The new Logistics Park is cross-dock, equipped with loading and unloading of over 50 vehicles simultaneously. It has a column-less span of over 80 feet, which facilitates uninterrupted movement of goods within the facility. To enable all-weather loading & unloading of goods, the facility is equipped with 16 feet wide Cantilever Shed. The facility is equipped with an integrated rainwater harvesting system, has a dedicated green zone and will be using sunlight during the daytime to conserve energy. Operations at the Logistics facility is highly streamlined, which ensures the country’s fastest transit-time from Telangana to all destinations across India. The physical infrastructure will be backed by a robust IT infrastructure and a very efficient warehouse management system.

The carrier’s latest effort around that pro-customer approach is a multi-modal end-to-end containerised cargo provision – involving truck, rail and barge services – for a last-mile delivery from West India to Mongla Port in Bangladesh. Mongla is Bangladesh’s busiest cargo gateway after Chittagong Port. “The cargo is moving from the shipper’s factory to ICD Mihan in Nagpur by road, after which it is connected to Kolkata on rail,” said a spokesperson for Maersk (India). From Kolkata, the cargo will head to Mongla on a barge facilitated by Maersk. In conjunction with India’s public rail company, the Container Corporation of India (Concor), the carrier set up the first such train trip from the Nagpur ICD to Kolkata Port on 3 February. “This multimodal solution is designed to improve transit time, reduce supply chain inefficiencies and lead time, promote sustainability and cost efficiency,” Concor said in a statement. “This is an end-to-end solution for container movement from customer factory, including first-mile connectivity, customs clearance, rail movement and barge connection.” The unique cross-border offering is a step further towards Maersk’s expanding multimodal profile in the Indian market as it works to meet trade expectations on service levels.

The implementation framework for PM GatiShakti national master plan is taking its final shape at a faster pace and after April 1 this year, every infrastructure project is expected to route through the network planning group (NPG) constituted under this initiative, a top government official said. The PM GatiShakti plan was announced last year with an aim to break departmental silos and bring in more holistic and integrated planning and execution of projects with a view to address the issues of multi-modal and last-mile connectivities. This will help in bringing down the logistics cost, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anurag Jain said. “Things are in readiness. the empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS) and NPG are constituted and the TSU (Technical Support Unit) is more or less in place. So the structure is there,” he said. The secretary added that the department has conducted one round of training with the departments of the government of India and hold regional conferences across the states, barring the North-East, where it would happen soon. “So we are on track. We have asked states to put in their layers (on the PM GatiShakti national master plan portal). So we are targeting to get all the layers (like land records) of the states also on the portal by March 31…What we intend to do is that after April 1, 2022, every project which is more than ₹ 500 crore and is an infrastructure project will be routed through this (NPG),” Jain said.

Kale Logistics Solutions (Kale), a renowned IT solutions provider for the global logistics industry, has implemented its CODEX Port Community System (PCS) at the Port of Rembang to fast track, streamline, and automate stakeholder interactions at the port. The implementation of Indonesia’s first PCS has reduced wait time at the gate by 80% and the average truck dwell time by nearly 70%. Located in the Central Java province of Indonesia, the Port of Rembang is a strategic port from the multi-modal transportation point of view. The port is also a member of the Indonesia Port Business Association (ABUPI), a forum that supports the development of the maritime sector in Indonesia. Port Community Systems can serve as a unified platform for industry stakeholders to stay connected and gain access to unambiguous information, further facilitating more reliable decision making. As a result of the bouquet of services it provides, it helps to considerably reduce the logistics cost. In reference to the Port of Rembang, the PCS has opened new opportunities and created avenues for its expansion.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport), the third busiest Airport in India, is making significant contributions to India’s aviation growth story by facilitating robust connectivity to non-metro cities, providing opportunities to people to fly as well as drive regional economic growth. In the process, BLR Airport has emerged as the preferred transfer hub for South India. Currently, BLR Airport serves 74 domestic destinations (in CY 2021)—the highest ever since airport opening date, as compared to 54 routes during pre-COVID and is also the highest amongst South Indian Airports. These additions have mainly been to non-metro destinations, and as a result, flights to non-metro routes have shown a considerable increase from 58% (pre-COVID) to 63% in CY 2021. Moreover, between Q1 and Q4 of 2021, traffic on non-metro routes increased by 27%, reinforcing strong demand on these city-pairs. During the CY 2021, nearly 19% of traffic at BLR Airport comprised of transfer passengers as against ~10% pre-COVID. The major airports contributing to high volumes of transfer passengers at BLR Airport were Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad and Goa. Apart from the increase in non-metro connectivity, the geographical location of Bengaluru and the growing economy of the State of Karnataka has helped in positioning BLR as the major aviation gateway of South and Central India. BLR Airport offers a wide catchment area of 23 cities within a convenient flying time of 75 mins. This, coupled with growth in non-metro connectivity, has helped in building the transfer traffic market at BLR Airport.

Miami International Airport (MIA) has broken its record for cargo volumes handled for the second year in a row. The Florida hub handled 2.7m tons of freight in 2021, “shattering” its previous record of 2.3m tons achieved in 2020. International freight grew by 17% to 2.2m tons, while domestic freight rose 15% to 500,000 tons. MIA ranks as the busiest airport in the US and ninth busiest in the world for international freight. Los Angeles International is the busiest overall – domestic and international – cargo airport in the US. Last year it handled 3m tons of cargo – a 20.6% increase. The increases come as reduced passenger operations have resulted in cargo volumes consolidating at fewer airports – typically those with a larger cargo community and plenty of freighter operations. Consumer demand in the US also continues to boom. MIA said the growth experienced over the few years has two major facility expansions that were completed in 2021.

APM Terminals Pipavav has achieved productivity milestone in limestone discharge in bulk operation. The Port discharged the limestone vessel “MV El Matador’ within 46 hours, at the discharge rate of 31,263 MT per day. The vessel was berthed on arrival without any pre-berthing delay with singular focus on faster vessel turnaround considering strong vessel line-up in waiting. Limestone and other mineral cargoes are mostly handled with conventional mode at all Indian ports; wherein above operational feat is certainly one of the highest minerals discharge record against industry standards. The breakthrough productivity was achieved with the usage of Port’s state-of-art Gottwald Shore cranes & vessel cranes and seamless co-ordination at the Port ensuring safe and efficient operations. Commenting on Company’s initiatives, Jakob Friis Sørensen, MD, APM Terminals Pipavav, said, “We are proud of another productivity achievement at our port. Discharging the minerals at the rate of 31263 MT per day is an outstanding feat and shows our infrastructure capabilities, flawless planning, and co-ordination among our teams at the Port. We are committed to extend the best services to our customers by moving their cargoes safely and in the least possible time at our port through continuous infrastructure development.”

Containership charter rates have stormed to new record highs with analysts warning that the scarce tonnage available could see prices remain at extraordinary levels for much of the year. Broking reports that busy Pasha Group had taken the 2,756 teu X-Press Mekong for 50 days from the end of February for a stunning $175,000 a day have been confirmed by liner data provider Linerlytica, the highest rate ever paid for a containership of this capacity. Details of the charter stipulate that the price escalates if it is redelivered late. The prompt delivery of the vessel is understood to have pushed prices higher, with very few vessels now available for swift charter. Pasha Group, and its Jones Act liner Pasha Hawaii, have been sending charter rates northwards repeatedly in the opening weeks of 2022. Pasha had teamed with wholesaler Costco to make some big plays in the charter market, taking seven charters for ships ranging in size from 2,100 to 3,500 teu with most taken on a three-year basis.

Qatar Airways announced a new order for GE9X engines as part of its global launch order of up to 50 Boeing 777-8 Freighters. The commitment, which includes 34 firm 777-8 orders and an additional 16 purchase right options, also includes GE90 engines for an additional order of two Boeing 777 Freighters. The total value of the order with GE is more than U.S.$6.8 billion list price, including spare engines, a new order for GE90-115B engines, and a TrueChoice™ services agreement to cover the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the engines. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “With our status as the world’s largest air freight carrier, Qatar Airways has ambitious plans for the future of its cargo operations. As operators of the Boeing 777 family, including the global launch customer of Boeing’s 777-8 Freighter aircraft, we are delighted to have GE as our partners and these contracts for GE engines further cement the strong relationship between Qatar Airways and GE. We are confident that Qatar Airways’ focus to drive towards a sustainable future will be very much supported by the efficiency of the GE9X engines.” The GE90 engine family is the exclusive powerplant on Boeing’s 777-300ER, 777-200LR, and 777 Freighter aircraft. Since its entry into service in 1995, the GE90 engine has accumulated more than 108 million flight hours and has been among the most reliable in the industry with a world class dispatch reliability rate of 99.98 percent.

Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The Special Economic Zones Act will be replaced with a new legislation that will enable the states to become partners in ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’. This will cover all large existing and new industrial enclaves to optimally utilise available infrastructure and enhance competitiveness of exports.” “Alongside, we will also undertake reforms in Customs Administration of SEZs and it shall henceforth be fully IT driven and function on the Customs National Portal with a focus on higher facilitation and with only risk-based checks. This will ease doing business by SEZ units considerably. This reform shall be implemented by 30th September 2022,” the minister said during the speech. IT industry body NASSCOM said in a tweet, “SEZs have tremendously contributed to India’s exports & created additional employment opportunities. We look forward to the new legislation on SEZ Act as this will lead to holistic development of enterprises and enhance competitive exports.”