The unmatched expertise and a strong, global service network are what distinguish ECS Group. With Just Fly It, one of ten individually purchasable New Abilities, the Augmented GSA offers a pure and comprehensive, international charter service. What makes this particular product unique, is that it is designed to support two different customer groups: those seeking capacity, and those with capacity to offer. Freight forwarding clients requiring urgent, additional capacity, can opt to delegate the search to ECS Group. Just Fly It takes care of sourcing the right-sized charter and all the considerations listed above. Yet, Just Fly It is also a unique service offer to airlines with aircraft of all sizes available for charter. They can rely on ECS Group to put these to good use. One such example, Amelia International, which is venturing into the world of cargo, having taken delivery of its first ATR-72 freighter in January of this year. The Ljubljana-based freighter recently set off on its first commercial charter flight when ECS Group matched an urgent customer request. Within a matter of hours, ECS Group agreed the contractual terms and conditions with the customer and supervised the operational preparations for the flight. Matija Krajnc, Managing Director at Amelia International declared: “We successfully operated our first charter flight from Gyor, Hungary, to Bremen Germany. The flight, on behalf of a customer in the automotive industry, took place on 10 February 2022, carrying a full payload of around 7.5 tonnes of automotive components. We are delighted that our ATR-72 Freighter has finally embarked on its first mission to provide much-needed air cargo capacity within Europe. With ECS Group’s support, we look forward to many more, similar flights, soon.”

Tata Steel,has shipped nearly 1,800 tonnes of finished steel products from Haldia Port in West Bengal to Pandu Port in Assam using the Indo-Bangaldesh Protocol (IBP) route via Brahmaputra River. This shipment of Tata Steel’s TMT bars – that arrived at Haldia on rail before being loaded on to river barges – marks the beginning of the use of multimodal logistics, a landmark effort to decarbonise the steel sector and the country. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, said “that this maiden voyage showcases multimodal movement of cargo by harnessing the power of the river-sea combination for transportation.” The Minister urged other stakeholders to move in the same direction and commit to make it a grand national success. Says Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Supply Chain, Tata Steel, “The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route will help us service the growing North East market better. This route can also be explored for servicing other locations enroute this waterway to deliver steel in smaller lots and in better condition for the benefit of customers in the North-East. The initiative paves the way for seamless and robust integrated logistics solution towards utilising inland waterways for India and Bangladesh.” As Tata Steel became the first in Indian steel sector to transport products over inland waterways, the IBP route will also help them lower their scope 3 carbon footprint. In July 2021, the Company had also pioneered the use of electric vehicles to move finished goods in select locations.

The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) are jointly organising the first post-Budget webinar – Creating Synergies for Accelerated Economic Growth’. The Webinar will be a platform for dignitaries, academicians and industry stakeholders to discuss the plans for improving India’s logistics game. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the participants on the GatiShakti masterplan will be on how the Union Budget 2022 is a scaffold for progressing through it. Piyush Goyal, the Minister for Commerce and Industry, will chair the concluding session – which will be a chance for all the stakeholders to give their inputs on the possible strategies that can be applied to achieve the aim. The webinar is to be conducted as 5 simultaneous sessions discussing various aspects of the logistics sector in India With the GatiShakti Masterplan, the government aims to fill the gaps in the existing logistics ecosystem of the country, thereby, improving the logistics infrastructure which ensures a seamless movement of people, goods and services. Better standard and ease of living, ease of doing business, expedited paperwork, faster completion of projects and ultimately, cost efficiencies are a few landmarks that the master plan will achieve while striving for the main goal.

With around 40% of annual global air cargo typically transported in the belly hold of passenger aircraft, the grounding of planes during the pandemic, created a huge gap between demand and supply. Innovations such as loading the cabins with cargo also fell short to fill up the gap and cater to the needs adequately, creating a need and market for all cargo aeroplanes. Looking at the decline of international passenger traffic and scarcity of belly-hold space, India’s freight-forwarding specialist Jet Freight Logistics sees an opportunity and needs to establish its in-house cargo airline. In addition to this, the Incentivization of the aviation industry by the government of India with plans like GatiShakti, and the push towards agri exports has further supported the freight forwarding companies’ ambition of its all-cargo airline. Jet Freight is handling the highest volume of export Agri produced by air in the country today and expects a drastic increase in terms of cargo export volume by air especially Agri export, creating the market for cargo airlines in the coming future. With its Indian all-cargo airline Jet freight aims to help ramp up capacity in the Indian international freight market.

Three dedicated industrial corridors in Bengal will be created to reap the benefits of the Centre’s Amritsar-Dankuni freight corridor, which aims to boost trade and commerce between the eastern and northern parts of the country. “We will set up three dedicated industrial corridors — Dankuni-Haldia, Dankuni-Kalyani and Dankuni-Raghunathpur — to boost industrial activity in the state… We are now focusing on industrialisation and creation of jobs after ensuring social security schemes,” said chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The eastern freight corridor project — also referred to as Amritsar-Dankuni freight corridor — had been initiated in 2006 and was expected to be completed by 2021. “But because of the pandemic, the project was delayed. It is expected that the freight corridor is likely to be functional by the later half of 2022,” said a source. Sources at Nabanna said the three industrial corridors once made operational would draw investment to several sectors. “Once the work on the freight corridor is completed, Dankuni will assume the role of a major land port in the state. As there is not enough land in and around Dankuni to set up large industries, connecting areas that have land with dedicated corridors will surely help in drawing investments,” said a senior government official. According to sources, several industrial parks have already been set up in Raghunathpur in Purulia and Kalyani in Nadia. As land is available in those two areas, the government can easily provide plots to the industrialists.

Gangavaram Port the deepest and the most modern port in the country has achieved multiple records in various cargo commodities. It is the deepest all-weather port in India with round-the-clock operations. The Port is having state of the art infrastructures facilities to manage various imports and export cargos having deep depth multi-purpose cargo berths to receive Cap Size, Panamax Size, and Supramax vessels. Port is having vast storage facilities including covered warehouses to manage various cargos and state-of-the-art material handling systems. GPL is consistently performing well and creating newer records for handling the various cargos. * Highest Ever Sugar Loading: The Port achieved their maiden record in Sugar cargo loading at Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL). The port performed excellent by loading 16,020 MTs from the vessel MV Jenny M which berthed at port on 21.02.2022. * Highest ever achieved Steel Loading at GPL: Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) performed extremely well by loading 10,854 MT of Steel Blooms A/c RINL by using the vessel cranes on a 24-hour basis. This has surpassed the earlier record of 9,078 MT on a 24-hour basis on November-2021. This has created a National Record by any port in India. Highest Ever Loading of Iron Ore Fines: The port has achieved the highest loading of Iron Ore Fines 53,261 MT in 24 hrs to MV Crimson Knight A/c KIOCL in February 2022 which has surpassed the earlier record of 52,677 MT of the vessel MV African Spoonbill. * Highest Ever Steam Coal Discharging: The port discharged 70,000 MT of Steam coal within 24 hrs from the vessel MV. Manasota A/c. AEL in January 2022 has surpassed the earlier record of 65,059 MT from the vessel MV. …

CMA CGM Air Cargo has applied for a US foreign air carrier permit from the US Department of Transportation as CMA CGM looks set to launch its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC) airline in the first half of this year. The application document, which is dated 22 February, said: “CMA CGM AIR CARGO (“CMA CGM”) hereby applies for a foreign air carrier permit to transport property and mail pursuant to the Air Transport Agreement between the United States and the European Union and its Member States.” The document noted that CMA CGM has applied for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and operations specifications from the French Civil Aviation Authority…and “expects the application to be approved soon”. A certificate from the French Civil Aviation Authority would allow the company’s rapidly expanding freighter fleet to serve additional routes out of Paris CDG. This could mean a phased switch of A330-200 freighter services from its Liege hub in Belgium to Paris CDG. The US application document confirms that CMA CGM Air Cargo plans to begin operations in Spring 2022 with service between Paris, France and Chicago in Illinois, New York and Atlanta in Georgia.

FarEye, a global SaaS platform provider transforming last-mile logistics, today announced several new capabilities for more environmentally sustainable delivery operations, route optimization, and consumer experience. New capabilities across FarEye’s Intelligent Delivery Management Platform are designed to help customers boost delivery efficiency, enable green fleets, and gain visibility into outcomes of sustainability initiatives. “We are partnering with our customers using our optimization and visibility solution to optimize fleets and reduce emissions while delivering delightful experiences to their end customers,” said Suvrat Joshi, chief product officer at FarEye. “In a world shifting towards prioritizing environmental sustainability, we are dedicated to complementing and supporting our customers’ sustainability goals. In 2021, customers that used our platform collectively helped reduce carbon footprint by 40,961 tons. We see this number continue to increase as our customers adopt and use these new capabilities across first, mid, and last mile in their delivery network.” FarEye’s four new sustainability capabilities have been developed to help both shippers and carriers minimize CO2 emissions throughout their logistics operations, addressing end consumers’ desire to have their online orders delivered on time and with minimal or zero carbon emissions.

Shipsy, raises USD 25 million in a Series B round co-led by A91 Partners and Z3 Partners along with existing investors Info Edge and Sequoia Capital India’s Surge. The freshly raised funds will enable the logistics startup to maintain its growing stronghold in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asian markets while also accelerating the company’s aim of global expansion into Europe and the US. In addition to this, Shipsy will also utilize these funds to drive rapid technological innovation with a greater focus on enhancing logistics sustainability and its AI, ML, and Blockchain capabilities. “We are thrilled to partner with seasoned investors with a common vision to transform the global logistics industry technology. Their continued support strengthens our mission of enabling customers to achieve sustainable business and logistics excellence. It takes us closer to our goal of becoming the de-facto logistics operating system globally,” said Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-Founder, Shipsy. “Shipsy’s technology offering enables them to be the single partner of choice for enterprises who are transforming their logistics operations. Large category-leading customers have been thrilled at the impact of Shipsy in their operations. We look forward to partnering with them as they become a leader in logistics software,” said Kaushik Anand, Partner at A91 Partners. Shipsy’s growth is driven by its continuous focus on enabling businesses to provide customer transparency, flexibility, and convenience.

Drip Capital, Inc., a leading cross-border digital trade finance platform, announced collaboration with CARGOES Finance By DP World, a platform that enables rapid and seamless access to working capital for emerging-market small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are one of the most integral components of the global supply chain but often face a working capital crunch to facilitate their cross-border transactions. Drip Capital offers collateral-free financing solutions for SMEs engaged in cross-border trade, thereby allowing them to manage their cash flow better and invest in business growth. The fintech firm collaborates with crucial global industry enablers across the value chain for making international trade seamless for SMEs. DP World’s CARGOES Finance Platform facilitates lender-borrower interactions and arranges an array of credit solutions from premier financial institutions worldwide. A partnership such as this will help cash-crunched SMEs avail fast and easy access to trade financing by connecting them to Drip. Elaborating on the collaboration, Pushkar Mukewar, Co-Founder and CEO of Drip Capital, said, “To be a part of DP World’s massive network and get access to a large number of SMEs is a great privilege, and we are excited to begin this journey with them. Besides this, the platform will provide Drip with vital trade data to improve its risk analysis and mitigation processes, thereby helping us procure more clients and lend more confidently. Overall, the partnership will assist us in our mission to make global trade easy and accessible to SMEs worldwide.” Sinan Ozcan, Senior Executive Officer, DP World Financial Services Limited, said: “DP World’s objective is to enable global trade. Access to trade finance is critical for the survival and growth of exporters, importers and logistics companies which are …