Cochin Port Joint Trade Union Forum has urged the government to abandon a proposal to allow concession in royalty / revenue share payable by private firms — both existing and new ones — handling transshipment and coastal containers at facilities in Centre owned major ports including the terminal run by Dubai’s DP World at Cochin Port Authority. Terming the move as “shocking”, the Joint Trade Union Forum, cutting cross party lines, said it sought “to grant undue benefits to DP World which runs the international container transshipment terminal at Vallarpadam in Cochin Port”. They said the “facts were entirely different” to the arguments put forward by the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways in considering the proposal from the point of view of the Vallarpadam container transhipment terminal. “The terminal operator has miserably failed in utilising the facilities and infrastructure provided by spending ₹1,900 crore from public exchequer and spending annually a further ₹125 crore for maintenance dredging by Cochin Port Authority,” the Forum explained in a letter to the secretary, ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.

Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Guidance – the Government of Tamil Nadu’s nodal agency, for investment promotion and single window facilitation. This is towards setting up warehousing facilities across the state. The projects will be executed by Welspun One Logistics Parks and will bring direct investments of approximately INR 2500 Cr to Tamil Nadu. Under this MoU, a total of six projects have been proposed in prime warehousing micro-markets like Hosur, Sriperumbudur and Thiruvallur; totalling to a development potential of approximately 8 Mn sq. ft. to be built across a span of 5 years. The MoU signifies a deep relationship between the Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) and Welspun One Logistics Parks with the collective aim of enriching the logistics infrastructure within the state. Considering the tangible social and economic benefits that the investments engender, the GoTN has assured support in streamlining the approval processes and single-window clearances for WOLP initiated projects to facilitate the overall ease of doing business. WOLP in turn, is determined to provide high-impact sustainable warehousing solutions by incorporating green infrastructure and an industry-led technology approach.

B&H Worldwide, the specialist aerospace logistics provider has won two Green Apple Awards at a ceremony in London. The first for its Carbon Reduction project – which was achieved in 2020 but the awards were postponed for 12 months due to the pandemic – and the second for adoption of electronic air waybills (eAWBs) for all airlines it works with. The Green Apple Organisation is an independent, non-profit, non-political group that has been rewarding and promoting environmental best practice since 1994. Its annual awards recognise those businesses that make a positive contribution to the environment through carbon friendly initiatives. In the Distribution and Logistics category B&H Worldwide was rewarded for its efforts over two separate years to reduce its environmental impact across its global business. The challenge was to reduce its overall carbon footprint through changing working practices in all its international stations and then educating team members, customers, and suppliers about why and how it was making changes. It now operates a measurable, monitored environment and sustainability policy so that all stakeholders can see the year-on-year carbon reductions which have been made including changing the company’s IT infrastructure, installing LED lighting, introducing in-workplace recycling centres, transport routings and changing working practices. Measurable results have included a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions at its London Heathrow head office since 2018 and an 82% reduction in paper usage by switching to a paperless purchase ledger.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is expected to buy as much as 10 million square feet (sq ft) of warehousing assets every year as India’s largest private port operator bets on the e-commerce boom to raise capacity 150 times to 60 million sq ft by 2026 from the current 8 lakh sq ft. Adani Logistics Ltd, a unit of APSEZ, will use a mix of organic and inorganic opportunities to sail into a dominant position in the segment. The conglomerate led by Gautam Adani plans to add 30 million sq ft through greenfield development of warehouses leveraging its existing land parcels of 1,850 acres across top 20 cities in India, while about 30 million sq ft (16 per cent of Grade A market capacity) will be added through acquisition of strategic assets in the top 20 markets.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) announced that its group company in Thailand, Bangkok Cold Storage Service (BCS) and K Line Container Service Thailand (KCST) will establish new warehouses in Bang Na district near Bangkok. Currently, BCS is operating two freezing and refrigerating warehouses in two locations, where are Thepharak district and Bang Na district, and KCST is operating ten dry warehouses in three locations where are Bang Na district, Amata City Chonburi district and Bangpra district. Both BCS and KCST have been operating warehouse businesses for more than 30 years in Thailand. K Line said that this decision has been taken to support the expanding distribution demand in Thailand and the diverse needs of its customers.

Yara has debuted its long-awaited Yara Birkeland, the world’s first electric and autonomous container ship for emission-free shipping. The ship departed for its maiden voyage Friday in the Oslo fjord. “We are proud to be able to showcase the world’s first fully electric and self-propelled container ship. It will cut 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and replace 40,000 trips by diesel-powered trucks a year, said Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara. Yara has been working with maritime technology company Kongsberg on the development of the vessel since 2017 – a pioneering project leading the maritime shipping industry’s journey towards autonomous operations and zero-emission shipping. The project was nearly derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the planned delivery of the vessel by over a year.

Airfreight rates on the transpacific trade lane continue to surge since the start of November as peak season demand kicks off and modal shift from ocean continues. The latest figures from the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI) show that prices on services from Hong Kong to North America reached $11.22 per kg – the highest on (BAI) record and up from $9.12 per kg at the start of October. To Europe, prices from Hong Kong are at 7.80 per kg – also a high for the index. Meanwhile, the Freightos Air Freight Index shows that prices from Asia/China to the US west coast last week reached $14.22 per kg and to the east coast are at $12.76 per kg.

American has partnered with My Pet Cab on its PetEmbark programme to include a home delivery service for pets after being flown to destination. My Pet Cab vehicles are equipped with secondary air systems and electronic monitoring thermometers as well as remote cameras and vehicle monitoring systems. The airline has also launched a new video guide that offers instructions for booking a pet on American, ranging in information from kennel guidelines to approved travel conditions to drop-off and pick-up timing. Vittal Shetty, head of cargo strategy for American Airlines Cargo, said: “These enhancements not only make it easier for pet owners to do business with us but helps to ensure a safe and stress-free journey from start to finish.”

CMA CGM Air Cargo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purchase of four A350F freighter aircraft taking CMA CGM’s total Airbus fleet to nine aircraft, including five A330-200F. “I am proud to announce the acquisition of 4 new Airbus A350F, which will supplement our existing fleet. We will become the launch airline of this brand new aircraft. This investment in an efficient and future-proof full freighter is a strong evidence of the commitment of the CMA CGM Group towards air freight and providing agile solutions to take care of your cargo in better ways. The A350F will also be a major milestone towards more sustainable air cargo, with an improved fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions,” announced Olivier Casanova, CEO, CMA CGM.

MMI Asia, the regional subsidiary of Messe Muenchen (MMG), announced The Marina Sands in Singapore to host the Southeast Asian edition of the Transport Logistics and Air Cargo Trade Fair to be held in September 2023. This edition is the latest in the leading series of transport logistic and air cargo shows which include, India, China, Turkey, the United States and the world’s largest logistics event and parent show in Munich. The Singapore Tourism Board and MMI Asia signed an MoA for the event including the development of new content, marketing & publicity efforts, programme and exhibition components for the trade show and areas of collaboration in industry knowledge exchange. The exhibition will act as a platform to identify challenges of the logistics ecosystem and share best practices to overcome those challenges. “In a disrupted world, the logistics industry has had to adapt, change and remain flexible in order to meet the extraordinary demands the global economies have placed on their sector. The event will enable the very best minds to meet, network and ensure they remain up to date with the latest trends and best practices in the industry.” said, Michael Wilton, MMI Asia’s Director and General Manager