Category Archives: International

Hapag-Lloyd, a German container shipping company, has decided to suspend its booking of import containers bound for Bangladesh via Singapore for a month. The container transportation company announced on June 24 that bookings for cargo moving into Bangladesh via Singapore would not be possible for the next four weeks due to an increased backlog of containers destined for Chattogram at the transhipment port. However, the decision is not applicable for export bound containers from Bangladesh, said Abul Kalam Azad, general manager of operations at GBX Logistics, the local agent of Hapag-Llyod. “Hapag-Llyod was forced to take such a decision after facing a huge pile up of its Bangladesh-bound import cargo at Singapore port, which is choking with congestion,” Azad said. More than 3,500 Bangladesh-bound import containers being carried by the company are now sitting idle in Singapore. This situation was caused by the increased number of import containers heading for Chattogram and reduced transport capacity among feeder operators.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines has played an essential part in the implementation of the large-scale Omani Oil and Gas project with a smooth and seamless delivery of two gigantic oil well rigs to the capital of Oman. The complex delivery for two advanced automated well service rigs, weighing almost 120 tons, was accomplished in partnership with Pentagon Freight Services Canada, who engaged Volga-Dnepr for a timely and efficient logistics solution to meet the end-user’s stringent delivery time whilst overcoming many challenging aspects of loading and required detailed and complex computer modelling to ensure they were safely loaded for transportation. The six-leg flight, lasting five days, was organised from Calgary, Canada to Muscat, Oman aboard one of Volga-Dnepr’s modernised An-124-150 which has an extended payload carrying up to 150 tonnes including loading equipment. Adrian Pruden, vice-president of Pentagon Freight Services Canada praised Volga-Dnepr and their operations and flight crew for the smooth seamless operation. “Pentagon and Highwood Technologies were very pleased and fortunate to work alongside such industry experts to properly plan and execute such a time sensitive project. Another well executed job by Volga-Dnepr and we look forward to the next one!”

Qatar Airways Cargo has extended its cool chain industry partnerships by joining Cool Chain Association (CCA), a non-profit organisation, effective 28 July 2021. Founded in 2003, the association aims to reduce food wastage and improve the quality, efficiency and value of the temperature sensitive supply chain by facilitating and enabling vertical and horizontal collaboration, education and innovation amongst its members and stakeholders. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways said, “Through our membership with Cool Chain Association, we look forward to collaborating with its members, and contributing to CCA’s vision of improving quality of temperature-sensitive products, increasing sustainability and reducing waste, thereby also contributing to the health of the planet, which aligns with our sustainability programme WeQare.” “CCA members are focused on developing tangible programmes and backing projects which help reduce food waste and ensure that life saving pharma consignments safely reach their destination and this has never been more relevant than now,” said Stavros Engelakakis, Chairman, CCA.

DB Schenker is continuing on its course of growth in Finland. Five terminals and more than 260 employees are now joining the network of the leading logistics provider in northern Europe, as DB Schenker in Finland has concluded an agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Vähälä Logistics Oy and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, together known as Vähälä Yhtiöt. The Finnish family-owned logistics group was founded in 1937 and offers domestic land transport services in central and northern Finland as a partner of the DB Schenker network. This cooperation dates back to 1956. “With this acquisition, we are strengthening DB Schenker’s position in Europe,” says Helmut Schweighofer, CEO of DB Schenker in Europe. “With the takeover of Vähälä Yhtiöt, a company that already operates for DB Schenker in Finland, we have the opportunity to expand the structure of DB Schenker’s land transport network in central and northern Finland.”

Leading logistics and supply chain company Jeena & Co. and German-based Hermes World have come together in a strategic and exclusive partnership, where Hermes will represent Jeena in Germany and Jeena will represent Hermes in India. Jeena has been handling the Otto business for over three decades and this association is now one step further in forging the relation spread across Sea and Air freight. Speaking on this partnership, Stephan Schiller – CEO, Hermes International said, “Jeena and the Otto Group have already been working together for more than 30 years. It therefore made sense to deepen this cooperation when setting up the Sea and Air business segment (now Supply Chain Solutions) at Hermes. Working with a local expert like Jeena gives us and our customers an advantage in the Indian market. Despite its considerable size, Jeena is a family-run company with fast decision-making processes, a sustainable strategy, and great personal relationships at all levels – everyone benefits from this corporate culture”.

LATAM Airlines has been awarded Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) a cargo handling contract extension at Barcelona Airport, Spain. Having initially appointed WFS in Barcelona in 2018, LATAM has now signed a new three-year agreement for WFS to handle cargo on board its Boeing 767 operations, carrying import and export shipments through Barcelona annually. “WFS is our partner for cargo handling services in Europe. The renewal of our contract for Barcelona is the reaffirmation that our relationship is based on WFS’ good quality service,” commented Eva Penalva, LATAM’s regional operations manager, Cargo. Humberto Castro, WFS’ managing director – Cargo, Spain, said, “It is especially satisfying when our existing customers extend their contracts with WFS because it demonstrates that our handling teams are delivering the service levels, safety and security airlines need, and this is a tribute to their hard work. We remain committed to providing the best airport handling services to support the recovery and growth of the aviation industry in Spain.”

EL AL Israel Airlines is accelerating its digital presence with real-time eBookings, access to live rates, and visible air cargo capacity through WebCargo, a Freightos Group company. With the pandemic fueling digital adoption among both carriers and forwarders, EL AL is tapping into WebCargo’s platform. EL AL Cargo will be rolling out on WebCargo across a network covering the United States, Europe, and Asia, offering freight solutions for all types of customers and freight. This engagement enables more than 2,500 WebCargo forwarders across over 10,000 global branches instant access to capacity, pricing, and booking on EL AL Cargo. “Digital adoption has always been a top priority for EL AL, and as air cargo demand continues to rise, providing our customers with instant and accurate information is essential,” said Ronen Spira, head of EL AL Cargo division.

Lufthansa Cargo is now marketing the freight capacities of the new long-haul flights of Eurowings Discover. Europe’s leading cargo airline is thus adding further frequencies directly from Frankfurt to the range of services it offers its customers. Initially, routes to the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania will expand the offer. As of today, the new Eurowings Discover flights will provide customers with two additional connections per week to Mombasa and Zanzibar. From the second of August, this will be followed by further supplementary services to Punta Cana with a weekly frequency of three flights, as well as to Windhoek on five days a week. “The integration of the freight capacities of Eurowings Discover makes the offer even more attractive for our customers,” emphasises Ashwin Bhat, chief commercial officer at Lufthansa Cargo. “The increasing frequencies ideally complement our existing connections and help our customers in times of still scarce capacities. We are also pleased to be able to make a valuable contribution to the success of the new Lufthansa Airline by marketing the new Eurowings Discover capacities.”

HyperPort is a sustainable high-speed cargo and freight solution which is capable of increasing capacity and efficiency while also keeping a check on the pollution and congestion at ports worldwide. The system which is developed in partnership with terminal operator Hamburg Hafen und Logistik AG, is said to be going into certification design review. At present, as part of its short term concept, the companies are developing a VR demonstrator that will be presented at the ITS World Congress in Hamburg later this year from October 11-15. Engineered to current industry standards, the new concept is a plug-n-play solution for port operators who are capable of transporting containerised cargo hundreds of kilometres away, in minutes. It will be capable of sustainably moving 2,800 containers per day at speeds of up 600 km/h (327 mph). The new system is considered to give the Airplane speed at the price of freight cost. It is potentially two or three times faster than high-speed rail and has 10 times the speed of regular rail services. Also, it is more energy efficient as the track doesn’t need to provide power to the pods continuously. Furthermore, the pods can leave every 30 seconds, and this makes it an on-demand service. Such exceptional speed makes it very well in sync with the changing consumer demand and the rising concept of same day deliveries.

Air Canada Cargo, the cargo division of Air Canada announces their quarterly results. They believe this quarter has seen their best performance ever. Canada’s largest airline and the flag carrier’s, Air Canada Cargo, achieved a record $358 million in revenue. This represents an increase of $89 million, or 33 percent compared to the same quarter in 2020. The second quarter results were recently announced and the highlight of the financial numbers for the North American carrier was the cargo revenue. “We’re tremendously proud of the strongest quarterly results Air Canada Cargo has ever seen, which are a testament to our continued efforts to maintain stable and consistent capacity flows for our customers across the globe through cargo-only flying,” said Matthieu Casey, senior director, cargo global sales and revenue optimization at Air Canada.