Category Archives: Shipping

APM Terminals Pipavav (Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd) today announced the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The company reported a net profit of INR 654 million for Q4FY21 as against INR 472 million in Q4FY20. Revenue from operations for the quarter under consideration stood at INR 1,934 million as against INR 1,619 million in Q4FY20. EBIDTA for the quarter was at INR 1,156 million as against INR 1,004 million during the same quarter last year. EBIDTA margin stood at 60% in Q4FY21 as against 62% in Q4FY20. The container cargo business for the quarter stood at 195,236 TEUs, bulk business was at 1,028,977 MT and liquid business was 161,719 MT. 4,858 cars were handled under RoRo category for the quarter under review. For the full year ended March 2021, the company reported a net profit of INR 2,181 million. Total Income from operations for FY21 stood at INR 7,335 million. EBIDTA for FY21 was at INR 4,221 million and EBIDTA margin stood at 58%.

Global logistics company DP World operated International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Cochin recently added a new weekly Far East West Africa India Express service (FEW3) operated by Maersk Line. The new service with a fixed-weekly sailing will deploy 13 vessels of 4,500 to 5,500 TEUs capacity. The new service offers direct connectivity from West Africa to Cochin Port and from Cochin Port to Far East Ports. The service started with the maiden call of vessel M.V. KMARIN AZUR on 7th May 2021. Inclusion of this service will boost Cashew, Raw Cotton and Timber trade from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. With this new service customers can connect their cargo directly from Cochin to global markets instead of transhipping at Colombo Port thereby, providing overall cost advantage by reducing the transit time by 7-10 days.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has announced that it plans to procure a new-building Panamax bulker to transport woody biomass for energy as its main cargo, in light of stronger demand for carbon neutral biomass fuels, especially by power companies in Japan. The new vessel’s specifications are in pre-compliance with the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) phase 3, the environmental regulations that will be adopted in 2025. The specifications also call for reinforced mooring equipment and a wide-opening hatch design to boost the efficiency of cargo handling and is more suitable for the transportation of woody biomass for energy for Japanese power companies. It is slated for delivery at Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in 2023. Woody biomass for energy is a plant-derived fuel, and regarded as one that can realise a carbon neutral state, based on the concept that burning these fuels does not increase the CO2 concentration because carbon previously absorbed by trees is returned to the air.

Hundreds of seafarers, who were recently designated as frontline COVID warriors, are waiting for vaccination to get back to work. It is apprehended that the delay in vaccinating mariners will lead to a fall in the number of ships calling at Indian ports. The avoidance of Indian ports by foreign vessels may result in disruption of trade, including import and export of essential commodities, cautioned a communication from the Ministry of Shipping. It is estimated that there are around 46,000 seafarers in Kerala, and half of them need to be vaccinated in the first phase, the communication noted. The delay in vaccination may disrupt the supply of seafarers for crew change and their unrestricted movement. Several countries have imposed strict restrictions on ships with Indian crew or those with a history of ports of call in India. Crew change at foreign ports may also be affected due to such restrictions, the communication to the State authorities pointed out.

Chennai/Bhubaneshwar, May 24 Ports on India’s eastern coast on Sunday restricted shipping activities and asked vessels to vacate anchorages ahead of a cyclonic storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday, port authorities and trade sources said. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a”very severe cyclonic storm” would impact States including Odisha and West Bengal, where key ports are located. Some regions are likely to receive heavy rainfall and wind speeds could reach 110 miles per hour, the weather office said. Kolkata Port Trust Chairman Vinit Kumar said the port has taken preparatory measures to avoid the loss of human lives,vessels and property. “Before the onset of the cyclone, all port vessels will be taken inside dock for shelter. No ships will be kept in river anchorages or jetties,” Kumar said. Authorities at Haldia port in the state of West Bengal have asked for inward movement of vessels to be stopped from Monday evening, two trade sources said.

Cyclone Tauktae has forced the Indian port of Pipavav to shut, putting increased strain on the country’s shipping networks. Pipavav, operated by APM Terminals, said it had declared force majeure and would suspend operations until 1 June, following the cyclone making landfall last week along the coast of Gujarat in the north-west. With winds up to 185 kph, Tauktae is categorised as “extremely severe” and is one of the worst Arabian Sea-cyclones to hit India in a decade. Pipavav said there had been no major damage to port infrastructure, but its power supply and communication links had been “disrupted”. Its closure prompted forwarders to signal further cargo disruption, with containerships being diverted from the 1.35m teu capacity facility. Sanjay Bhatia, co-founder and CEO of Freightwalla, said: “Vessels will now have to re-route or, most likely, discharge containers at other ports like Nhava Sheva [Mumbai]. This is expected to have a cascading effect on the shipping lines, importers and exporters.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), formerly known as Kolkata Port Trust, is monitoring the situation in view of the forecast of a very severe cyclonic storm, Yaas, and taking preparatory measures to avoid loss of human lives, vessels, and other properties, an official said on Saturday. The port authorities asked officials to ensure that all its vessels are taken inside the dock before the onset of the cyclonic storm, and no ships will be kept at river jetties, SMP Chairman Vinit Kumar said. Control rooms at Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock Complex have been set up, he said. “We are continuously monitoring the situation and will stop our operations at the right time. Control rooms at KDS and HDC have been manned by senior officers since May 21. Tugboats and launches will be available for any emergency,” Kumar said. A low pressure area formed over east central Bay of Bengal on Saturday, which is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and move towards West Bengal, adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around May 26 morning, the regional Met Department said.

A lobby group of India private terminal operators have sought the government’s policy intervention for permitting single cargo handling terminals to handle multi commodities at major ports. Some of the public-private-partnership (PPP) concessions at major ports allow the operators to handle only one commodity such as coal, iron ore etc. The PPP projects are structured whereby the traffic risk is borne by the concessionaire, whereas the concessioning authority secures revenue through minimum guaranteed cargo mechanism. “Of late, there have been significant market disruptions hampering the functioning of these terminals. It is difficult to manage risk due to court orders banning the import/export of cargo, government policies discouraging imports and significant disruptions in market conditions,” the Indian Private Ports and Terminals Association (IPPTA) wrote in a May 9 letter to the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.

The Narendra Modi government’s ambitious plan for a transshipment terminal and other infrastructure projects on the Great Nicobar Island, piloted by the NITI Aayog, has cleared the first major hurdle in its way. After a series of meetings in March and April, the 15-member Environment Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has “recommended the proposal for grant of Terms of Reference.” The plan proposes the construction of a transshipment terminal, a greenfield international airport, township and area development and a 450 megavolt amperes gas and solar based power plant on Great Nicobar, the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands, and India’s southernmost territory. Transshipment involves offloading cargo from one ship and loading it onto another vessel to be carried to the final port of discharge.

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has recommended doubling the number of private inland container depots (ICDs) to facilitate the delivery of imported goods from the off-docks and make doing business easy. It urged the stakeholders concerned to invest more in setting up of the private ICDs in the Chittagong port as 20-25 more ICDs are needed to keep the export-import activities uninterrupted. In a recent meeting, stakeholders like exporters, importers, customs officials and representatives from Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) also agreed with the CPA’s proposal to mitigate congestion in the port. They also urged the port authorities and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to facilitate the investors, who are willing to set up new ICDs, through providing speedy service.