Category Archives: Shipping

WISTA is the first to conduct a survey focusing on impact of covid both positive and negative on women in the maritime sector, taking the lead building upon the research done indicating the impact of the global pandemic on women. WISTA International has launched a maritime specific survey, concentrating on women in the maritime industry, in collaboration with Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo in Brazil who will be sponsoring WISTA with 240 hours of research work. The online survey focuses on the impact COVID-19 has had on both the professional and personal lives of around 3800 women in the maritime industry who are members of WISTA’s global network. The survey is part of WISTA’s diversity committee’s ongoing programme and the research will help to define the current position of women and the opportunities for them in the maritime sector.

GETEX – GREECE EGYPT TURKEY EXPRESS is starting from October 5th, 2021 ex Thessaloniki port. This sustainable and best-in-class option is aiming at fostering connection from North and Central Greece, Eastern Europe to Egypt and South Turkey and direct and fast connection between South Turkey and Greece with a gateway to Eastern European countries. Fleet: 1 vessel x 850 TEUS nominal capacity, Rotation: THESSALONIKI / DAMIETTA / ALEXANDRIA EL DEKHEILA / MERSIN / THESSALONIKI. Frequency: 10-day 1st calls: ETA Thessaloniki on Tue. 05/10/2021 | ETA Damietta/Port Said on Fri. 08/10/2021 | ETA Mersin/Iskenderun on Mon. 12/10/2021 Ocean TRANSIT TIME references: Thessaloniki to Damietta in 2 days | Thessaloniki to Mersin in 5 days | Mersin to Thessaloniki in 3 days

At a time when containers for international trade in goods are scarce following the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1,500 empty cargo containers are currently stuck at the dry port in Birgunj. Due to this, the only dry port in the country that is used for international trade is facing a ‘container congestion’. Some containers have remained unused at the dry port for over a year and a half. The dry port which has the capacity to handle as many as 1,500 containers at a time has now become a warehouse for empty containers and loaded containers. According to Pristine Valley Dry port, the company operating the dry port in Birgunj, the reason behind the congestion of empty containers is not due to carelessness but due to the containers which arrived during the lockdowns. They say that the problem increased after the Container Corporation India did not show any interest in taking back the old containers.

After a much challenging time, Indian exports are finally making a significant recovery. As per reports, exports in the nation are likely to close the first half of the present financial year at around $195 billion, which is a significant achievement. Union Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal believes that exports are on course to reach the $400-billion target this year and a series of measures announced in recent months will pave the way for stronger growth. In 2020, with the outbreak of the pandemic, several logistical challenges surfaced, putting businesses in a tough spot. With the onset of COVID restrictions, shortage of containers and higher shipping rates, the exporters of our country seemed to be in murky waters, as they sought for some immediate aid from the government.

The Kingdom of Bahrain launched the fastest regional multi-modal logistics hub in the Gulf with only two hours of turnaround time for all containers. This essentially means that shipments can now be delivered to their destination in half the time and at 40% of the cost. With the launch of “Bahrain Global Sea-Air Hub,” Bahrain capitalizes both on its strategic position midway between European and Asian markets as well as on its proximity to regional target markets by establishing the most efficient multimodal sea-air transhipment hub in the region with a global reach. The newly launched hub relies on streamlined clearance procedures, optimized logistics, and full digitization to achieve an end-to-end lead time of just under two hours for goods transiting from Bahrain International Airport to Khalifa bin Salman Port, and vice versa.

Shankar Shinde is elected the new Chairman – FFFAI at 58th AGM held in Mumbai on September 24 The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) in its 58th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on September 24, 2021 elected new Office Bearers of the Executive Committee for the year 2021-23. Shankar Shinde the then Chairman-Elect for the year 2019-21, has taken over as Chairman, FFFAI for the ensuing two years’ tenure. He is also elected Managing Director on IFCBA (International Federation of Custom Brokers Association). The other elected Office Bearers are, Dushyant Mulani, Chairman-Elect. – Brihanmumbai Custom Brokers Association . Vice Chairmen- S Nataraja – Chennai Custom House Agents’ Association, Amit Kamat – Goa Custom House Agents’ Association, Rajesh Verma – Ludhiana Custom House Agents’ Association, Sudip Dey – Calcutta Custom House Agents’ Association, Shashidhar V. Hebbar – Bangalore Custom House Agents’ Association Ltd., Kartik Pancholi – Ahmedabad Custom Brokers Association, Vinod Sharma, Hon. Secretary – Pune Custom House Agents’ Association, Sudhir Agarwal, Hon. Treasurer. – Nagpur Custom House Agents’ Association.

The German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven (CTW) and 50% of the shares of Rail Terminal Wilhelmshaven (RTW) at the German container port JadeWeserPort. The Bremen-based terminal operator Eurogate continues to hold the remaining shares, while the parties have agreed to not disclose the purchase price. The contract closing is expected within a few months, while it is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, announced today the launch of NETWORKING services, the first business matchmaking marketplace in the shipping and logistics industry. Based on the similarly named service launched in 2020 as part of the CMA CGM+ range, this unique and unrivalled digital platform puts the Group’s customers directly in touch with their business partner in a seamless and secure mann The new NETWORKING services marketplace enables the Group’s customers to expand their business worldwide, to create new business opportunities and to find the suppliers or customers that best fit their needs, all while saving on cost and time and reducing the hassle and risks associated with business development.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd is mulling a potential entry into container terminal operation business to explore opportunities with the container freight stations (CFS) and inland container depots (ICD) the firm runs across India, shared a top official. “Some of the strategic objectives that we could explore would be whether it would make sense to get into container terminal operations,” said Ravi Jakhar, Chief Strategy Officer, Allcargo Logistics. This, however, does not include greenfield port development as those are infrastructure projects. But if there happens to be any opportunities for container terminals, we could look at it, Jakhar said. “From a strategic point of view, container terminals could be a potential area of synergy with CFS/ICD business”, Jakhar explained. He, however, added that the firm “does not have active investment plans on the drawing board”.

Transworld Group, one of the leading Global Shipping & Logistics Conglomerate, has further strengthened its overall fleet by adding large size bulk carrier – TBC Praise (36,699 DWT) . With the latest addition, Transworld is making a strong presence in the bulk carrier business with the latest acquisition coming close on the heels of 2 acquisitions of Bulk carriers TBC Passion and TBC Prime, with all 3 acquisitions done in 2021. Ramesh S. Ramakrishnan, Chairman, Transworld Group highlighted that this new addition to the fleet will further enhance Transworld’s Global footprint of Ship Owning in the Dry Bulk/ Container segment and deployment, which is a result of strong fundamentals and confidence in the growth of Shipping and Logistics sector in the present and coming years.