Logistics company Delhivery Ltd has invested in Falcon Autotech, a logistics automation solutions provider. The investment is in line with its objective of sustained investments in future-ready hardware solutions in its operations. Falcon Autotech is in the business of providing intralogistics automation solutions, sortation systems, conveyor systems, delivery-warehousing systems, and pick/put to light systems Commenting on the investment, Ajith Pai, Chief Operating Officer, Delhivery, said, “The collaboration with Falcon Autotech strengthens our ability to drive greater speed, precision, and efficiency across our business lines.” With this partnership, Delhivery said it expects to work closely with Falcon Autotech to design and implement new automation solutions for transportation and warehousing operations. The partnership will also enable the bundling of the hardware automated solutions along with Delhivery’s SaaS platform, one of the proposed growth verticals for Delhivery in the national and international market. Naman Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Falcon Autotech, added, “We are delighted to welcome Delhivery as a partner to Falcon. This investment is a testimony to Falcon’s commitment to our customers, our design, technology, and delivery capabilities, and the product roadmap ahead.”

Seafrigo Group, the global specialist and leader in temperature-controlled food logistics, has announced that it will open a new dedicated facility in New Jersey in 2022. Seafrigo Group already offers a full spectrum of Food Safety Inspection Services for imports and exports into the USA and it’s part of the Group’s commitment to guarantee high quality standards to its customers. As an approved inspection center at the Port of NY/NJ it is able to partially or totally manage shipments across a range of different services including drayage from/to port or, storage (Chilled, Frozen and Ambient), Lab test requested USDA, special labelling for different foreign languages and repacking to ensure freight is secure for export onforwarding such as for e-Commerce customers Already operating from four facilities in the same area, the new state-of-the-art 85,000 sq foot facility will provide additional, fully automated capacity in order to cater to customer fulfilment requirements. Seafrigo Group will also install its own Dry Ice making production plant within the facility in order to be able to maintain all frozen products at the correct temperature.

According to a recent survey published by Alphaliner, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has outranked the Danish carrier A.P. Moller Maersk as the world’s largest container line, in terms of capacity. The shipping pioneer Maersk has been the loftiest since a few decades, however, Geneva-based MSC fleet can now carry 4,284,728 standard 20-foot containers, 1,888 more than Maersk. MSC has 645 ships with a combined capacity of 4,284,728 TEU, compared to Maersk with 738 ships with 4,282,840 TEU in capacity. “MSC’s path to the number-one spot in liner shipping has been one of organic growth, whereas Maersk owes its top ranking to the takeover of Sealand (in 1999), P&O Nedlloyd (2005) and Hamburg Süd (2017).” said Alphaliner MSC Chief Executive Officer Soren Toft said that they have been functioning towards growth and profitability, rather than being numero-uno. Maersk has often broken records by building the biggest ships and has recently invested in vessels that sail on carbon-neutral methanol. Lately, they have been focusing on growth in land-based logistics – eyeing higher profits – and have time and again mentioned that retaining the top spot isn’t important to the company. It still has the most capacity in terms of owned vessels: MSC has about 65% of its capacity from chartered ships whereas Maersk only has 42%.

Industrial and warehousing space absorption stood at 44 mn sq. ft in 2021 to include 35.1 mn sq. ft from Tier I cities and 8.6 mn sq. ft from Tier II & III cities. Inspite of Covid restrictions and lockdowns impacting construction activities, India witnessed a fresh supply of 45 mn sq. ft. in 2021 where 36 mn sq. ft was from Tier I cities and 8.9 mn sq. ft from Tier II & III cities, as per data released by International real estate advisory firm Savills India. Similar to 2020, 3PL and e-commerce sectors continued to drive warehousing demand accounting 62% of the total absorption in 2021, followed by manufacturing sector at 14%. Among the major cities in India, Delhi NCR led with the highest absorption in 2021 at 18% followed by Pune at 15%. Mumbai and Bangalore saw absorptions at 14% and 11% respectively, while tier II & tier III cities accounted for 20%.

Starting the end of next month, empty containers stationed at the Los Angeles Port docks will attract a fee from the ocean carriers. The port of Los Angeles is United States’ largest port for container traffic and ocean carriers that fail to clear the empty containers off the port will have to bear a fine come 30th January. The port will charge USD 100 per day to the carriers for each empty container which has been stationed at the dock for more than 9 days. Each day the fine will increase by USD 100 until the container exits the dock. The fee, though, is subject to approval by the Los Angeles Harbour Commission’s board meeting scheduled for 13th January. A similar warning was issued on October 25th by the neighboring Long Beach Port too. “While we have seen significant success reducing import containers on our docks the past two months, too many empty containers are currently sitting on marine terminals. Just like the import dwell fee, the objective with this empty container program is not to collect fees but to free up valuable space on our docks, clearing the way for more ships and improving fluidity.” said Gene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles

Qatar Airways Cargo has long been committed to ensuring that all animals entrusted to the airline for transportation, receive the best care both on the ground and in the air. Now, following six months of intense process and product audits, Qatar Airways Cargo is proud to announce that its strict adherence to the highest standards and relevant regulations has been accredited CEIV Live Animals certification by IATA. “We are the fourth airline worldwide to become CEIV Live Animals certified, and the first in the Middle East. This certification is testament to the dedication and detail that we put into transporting the many different live animals that are placed in our custody. Whether they are horses, household pets, livestock, or exotic animals transported on our scheduled and charter flights or wild animals being flown under our WeQare Rewild the Planet initiative, we go beyond the required regulatory standards, to ensure that the animals are given the utmost care and comfort for the entire duration of the journey.” Miguel Rodriguez Moreno, Senior Manager Cargo Climate Control Products, explains. “The CEIV Live Animals certification depicts that our handling, infrastructure, quality management, and training framework are in line with industry standards. It highlights our compliance with the IATA Live Animal Regulations alongside the Transportation of Wildlife and Animal Welfare (TWAW) Group Policy, and it shows that we have a robust supplier management system in place, allowing our principles to be implemented globally. Further, it illustrates our commitment to continuously improving industry standards when it comes to the transportation of live animals, and we thank the IATA auditors for their constructive contribution in this regard.”

According to ICRA, the Indian Road logistic sector is likely to witness healthy growth in FY2022 on the back of demand recovery and improved business activities. This optimistic lookout is supported by the favorable scenario that has presented itself in recent times, wherein most players reported strong growth in freight volumes on a sequential basis in the second quarter of FY’22, and the momentum is likely to continue in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal. A stable outlook was maintained by the domestic rating agency for the Indian road logistic sector. After a subdued Q1 FY’22 on account of the second wave of COVID-19, demand recovery and improved business activities from Q2 FY’22 onwards, led to better asset utilization, which, along with cost-rationalization measures, supported the operating margins in the current fiscal, Icra said in a statement. Demand from segments like e-commerce, FMCG, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods coupled with an industry paradigm shift towards organized logistics players, post the GST and E-way bill implementation will keep the growth steady over the medium-term.

With the World Customs Organization announcing the 7th edition of HSN – “HS-2022” with effect from 1st January 2022, the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) organised a Webinar to discuss and understand the changes in the earlier version of the HS Code and coping up with the same by Customs Brokers/Freight Forwarding fraternity. The Webinar was addressed by Shankar Shinde, Chairman, FFFAI and Krishna Barad, Partner – Customs & International Trade, Indirect Taxes – BDO India as Guest Speaker. Also spoke on the occasion were Dushyant Mulani, Chairman-Elect, FFFAI; Vice Chairmen, FFFAI, S. Nataraja, Kartik Pancholi and Sudip Dey; Vinod Sharma, Hony. Secretary, FFFAI; S. Ramakrishna, Past Chairman and Advisor, FFFAI and other Members of the Federation. Apart from all Office Bearers, approximately 800 FFFAI members attended the webinar from across the country. In his welcome speech Shinde highlighted the importance and critical aspects of the WCO HS Nomenclature, recognised internationally. “HSN is the basic tool of international trade and we are legally bound to classify goods correctly. We need to very carefully understand the 7th edition of the HSN, many of them are linked with GST. It is our pleasure to organise this important webinar with an expert speaker, Krishna Barad, to highlight and analyse the new HSN. FFFAI endeavours to enhance domain knowledge pertaining to CB/FF and end to end logistics business and this webinar is one of such ongoing initiatives,” said Shinde.

The Hong Kong Government will tighten the quarantine measures for air cargo crew as part of its efforts to minimise the spread of Covid-19. Air cargo crew members will be required to undergo compulsory quarantine at a quarantine hotel for three days upon arrival in Hong Kong. This move is in view of the rising trend of imported Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant. On December 28, Centre for Health Protection Controller Dr Edwin Tsui told a press briefing that the number of Covid-19 infections involving Omicron accounted for 35% of the imported cases two weeks ago and that figure rose to 95% from December 26-28. Given that Omicron is highly transmissable, Dr Tsui warned that the risk of a community outbreak is very high. He said, “We have to balance between the risk of an infectious disease outbreak and the cargo operation. At present, we try our best to work with the airlines and also the Transport & Housing Bureau. And, we implement this measure of the three-day quarantine at a hotel, trying to intercept the cases once (airlines’ cargo crew) arrive (in) Hong Kong in the first three days”.

With the perspective to de-congest the capital city, along with other benefits, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) will be proposing to shift the majority of warehouses from within Delhi to the peripheries of the city i.e. the upcoming Urban Extension Road (UER) and the Eastern and Western Expressways. The Center plans to hold a meeting with the Delhi Government to discuss this initiative further, which is also expected to decrease the number of heavy goods vehicles entering the capital and divert them to the outskirts instead. “You all are aware and you also experience the ill effects from air pollution in Delhi and around. Now we have built two expressways around the national capital.Large godowns and warehouses can come along these expressways and there will be less need of trucks and other heavy goods vehicles to enter Delhi, which will reduce congestion and air pollution.” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister National Highways Logistics Management System – a special purpose entity of NHAI – has already formulated a detailed plan for the proposed system and has identified the warehouses that can be shifted along the peripheral expressways and the UER area. The UER connects Delhi with Jaipur, Rohtak and Chandigarh via national highways and is scheduled to be wrapped up by August next year.