DP World has completed testing of the BOXBAY high bay storage concept at the first full-size facility constructed at the port of Dubai proving that the innovative technology works in the real world. More than 63,000 container moves have been completed since the facility, which can hold 792 containers at a time, was commissioned beginning this year. The test exceeded expectations with BOXBAY faster and more energy efficient than anticipated. BOXBAY is a Joint Venture between DP World and German industrial engineering specialist SMS group. The system stores containers in slots in a steel rack up to eleven high. It delivers three times the capacity of a conventional yard in which containers are stacked directly on top of each other, meaning the footprint of terminals can be reduced by 70 percent. In BOXBAY containers are moved in, out and between slots by fully electrified and automated cranes built into the structure. Individual containers can be accessed without moving any others. The whole system is designed to be fully powered by solar panels on the roof.

ODeX, the fastest growing automated platform for the shipping industry, has recently announced a collaboration with USoft Multitech LLP for VGM submission and Form 13 integration on ODeX platform. Increasingly being recognized as a one-stop solution for the entire shipping industry, to receive documents and make payments electronically, ODeX’s joint efforts with USoft Multitech is expected to assist over 200 plus shipping lines and NVOCC’s with ease of data submission. Commenting on the alliance with USoft, Liji Nowal, Director, ODeX , said, “It is our constant endeavour to improve and enhance the experience of our esteemed customers and with this venture we have added another layer of convenience, efficiency and savings for them. At ODeX we are determined to bring the use of technology for enhanced shipping operations, which leads to enhancing efficiencies significantly for the entire shipping industry. “USoft aims to provide easy, smooth, automated and economical solutions to custom brokers, freight forwarders, and other logistics service providers,” said, Uday Jhaveri, Designated Partner, USoft Multitech. And in keeping with this, “We have collaborated with ODeX for the efficient and automated online filling of VGM and Form 13. We believe that this collaboration will significantly help streamline the workflow process,” he further added.

Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world’s leading companies in the transport of air freight, has been making significant strides in the direction of embracing sustainability and digitalization – one innovation at a time. The German cargo carrier has been on an interesting path of forging a future built with sustainability goals in mind and has rolled out a number of decisions exhibiting this especially under the leadership of Dorothea von Boxberg, Chairperson of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo who took charge this March. This also comes close on the heels of the air carrier having clocked an impressive year after its revenues reached historic highs, even as the global air cargo demand has reached above 2019 levels. Despite global air freight capacity crunch leading to a fall in sales, there was an improvement in its cargo load factor and yields were up in all regions served by Lufthansa Cargo.

Denmark headquartered DSV Panalpina A/S (DSV) announced the acquisition of Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) from Agility, a Kuwait-based leader in supply chain services, innovation and investment. The enterprise value of the transaction is $4.775 billion and the equity value is $4.675 billion. “I am very pleased to welcome our new colleagues from GIL on this important day. There are many similarities when you look at our two companies both in terms of the business models and services and, not least, when we look at our shared focus on local empowerment and putting customers first,” said Jens Bjørn Andersen, Group CEO, DSV. “DSV and GIL simply constitute an excellent match. We will now start the integration, and, together, we are going to grow the business and bring even more value to our many customers, partners and shareholders than we do separately.”

The pandemic has fast-tracked the need for innovation and the increased need for transformations in the healthcare sector, especially in the transportation, logistics and last mile delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine. As transportation of medicines and pharmaceuticals is increasing due to the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine, container solution providers around the world who deliver and process temperature-controlled pharma products have been rising to the challenge posed by the pharma industry in several ways. In line with this, va-Q-tec – a German tech firm that sells products for temperature controlling and insulation-vacuum, insulation panels and phase change materials has signed a deal with Turkish Cargo to deploy its thermal container va-Q-tainer on the airline’s fleet. The container has a special low-temperature service free of dry ice down to -50°C, which is best suited for carrying and transporting the Covid-19 vaccines. va-Q-tainers can maintain various temperature ranges between -70 °C upto +25 °C for several days inside the container. In addition, the underlying production processes have been certified as climate-neutral, according to the UN Greenhouse Gas Protocol since 2020.

Cargojet has invested in a minority share of US freighter operator 21Air as it looks to grow internationally. Cargojet will acquire a 25% interest in 21Air and will “continue to collaborate with 21Air on mutually beneficial opportunities in this expanding air cargo market”. 21Air is certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Part-121 air carrier presently operating a fleet of five Boeing 767 all-cargo aircraft. The company provides charter, ACMI, and CMI services to air cargo consolidators, freight forwarders, couriers, and integrators, including Cargojet. “This transaction is in line with Cargojet’s previously announced international growth strategy. This investment further demonstrates our ambition to build a more diversified and robust global footprint with strategic partnerships,” said Ajay Virmani, president and chief executive.

Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd, in collaboration with their logistics business partner M/s Shreeji Translogistics Ltd , have commenced a dedicated bonded trucking from Bengaluru & Chennai to Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal , IGI Airport after the successful launch at Hyderabad , Kanpur , Ludhiana , NOIDA SEZ , Pithampur SEZ1 & SEZ2 , Ahmedabad , Indore and Kolkata to provide their customers a possibility to move air cargo in an efficient , safe , process driven and cost effective manner. Bengaluru service was launched on 15th July 2021, while Chennai bonded service on 11th August 2021. Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal as an organization, has always been focused on new initiatives in terms of facility development, equipment & machinery and process improvement. This also includes Bonded Road Feeder Services to connect Celebi terminal at Delhi Airport with several hinterland locations and manufacturing regions. Bonded trucking is relatively a new concept in India and Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal has taken a step forward to start a Hub & Spoke project. These bonded trucking service will open tremendous opportunities to Airlines to solicit business from stations that are offline. Celebi’s Airline Customers can now offer services to a city to which they do not fly, meaning a geographic expansion of Airline territory . Chairman BAR (I) Cargo Committee – NR Vipul Bhalla reacted to the opening of these new Celebi bonded routes and said “ Thank you for opening up options for the North India market as well as for the increased choices for our customers spread across India. Your recent additions from Bengaluru and now Chennai are very welcome additions allowing our customers alternate routing via Delhi. We …

The New Rewari and New Palanpur section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor recently witnessed the successful trial run of the Roll On– Roll Off (Ro-Ro) service. The rake full of flat wagons commenced its journey from New Rewari in Haryana and arrived at New Palanpur in Gujarat, covering a total distance of 630 km. Consisting of carriages of loaded and empty trucks on flat rail wagons, the new service would enable door-to-door services while ensuring fast and safe movement on rail tracks. As of now, 2,500-3,000 trucks ply on a daily basis from Rewari to Palanpur. It is intended that the licensee will run two rakes of 45 wagons each with 450 trips per rake with a total of 900 trips during a year. This initiative is a win-win proposition for all concerned stakeholders from customers to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation to Indian Railways and off course the society at large. One of the prime benefits of the services is that the customers would be assured a faster service with transit time of roughly 10 hours vis-à-vis at least 24 hours through the road, a saving of around 14 hours. This service will result in reduced expenditure on maintenance due to less wear and tear of trucks. Furthermore, enhanced driver performance and safe cargo transit would also be ensured.

Tirupati Airport welcomed the opening of a new Domestic Air Cargo Terminal, which is aimed at providing a strong impetus to the exports of the region. The new facility will facilitate the export of perishables to any destination which will help the farmers in the region Tirupati. The newly set up Domestic Air Cargo Terminal (DACT) was formally inaugurated at Tirupati Airport by R Madhavan, Regional Executive Director, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Southern Region, Chennai on Thursday. Regional Manager D Muralidharan and Airport Director S Suresh were also present. Speaking on the occasion, Madhavan said that with the commencement of cargo operations, the economic activity in and around the region will improve and facilitate economic growth. With this, the outbound and inbound mail, cargo and air traffic at Tirupati Airport is expected to increase.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Delta Cargo have extended their long-standing partnership with dnata for five years, continuing the successful operation of ground handing and export services from the joint London Heathrow hub and Manchester Airport. The partnership also includes regional cargo gateways London Gatwick, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newcastle. dnata will continue to support the carriers’ cargo operations from its state-of-theart City East facilities at London Heathrow, boasting new technologies and award winning practices including: • 18 customer delivery doors with a Gatehouse concept • ETV (Elevated Transfer Vehicle), capable of full automation, with 245 pallet positions, up 20 percent, which enables the loading of flights in ‘trim order’ to support the airlines’ on-time performance • High-rise racking with 1,350 positions for storing export freight, eliminating unnecessary movements of shipments • A dedicated Pharma Zone and increased capacity for temperature controlled and perishables cargoes • Special facilities for Dangerous Goods and Live Animal shipment • X-ray technology with enhanced imaging capability, reducing the need for secondary cargo screening • Advanced internal and external high-definition CCTV systems to ensure a safe and secure working environment