Category Archives: Shipping

As the government is working on a new multi-modal national logistics policy, the Container Freight Stations Association (CFSes Association), whose members have been finding their going tough since 2016, has said CFSes should be allowed handle more logistics services, especially domestic cargo, so that their idling space can be gainfully engaged. According to the association, the 160-odd CFSes across the ports have been operating at around 40 per cent capacity on one hand, and on wafer thin margins on the other, as most containers are directly delivered to consignees now. With the increased DPD (direct port delivery) and various Customs-initiated reforms like RMS (risk management systems), almost all the CFSes remain largely underutilised. They are currently functioning at around 40 per cent of their functional capacity, Umesh Grover, Secretary-General, Container Freight Station Association. He said earlier as much as 70 per cent of containarised imports were through CFSes, which after the DPD began in 2016, is down to a paltry 25 per cent now. Over 50 per cent of all imports are through DPD facility today which has massively brought down delays and cost for importers, he said, but was quick to add that there is also a problem of over capacity of CFSes, with 160 stations now. Each CFS has can handle 500 TEUs of cargo. Another reason for the losing business is the introduction of RMS by the Customs, which as taken away 60 per cent of the non-DPD business. Under the RMS regime, as much as 60 per cent of the shipments do not need Customs clearance. Then there is the issue of fees which have just halved from Rs 10,000 per day to under Rs 5,000 …

On the heels of its recent acquisition of Ocean Insights, project44 has announced the availability of its free port visibility reporting service, Port Intel™. Free for a limited time, Port Intel is an online service that provides subscribers with free reports that summarise port congestion, inform them when their containers are anchored near congested ports, and help them make critical inventory and management decisions. Port Intel is powered by Ocean Insights from project44. “The impact of oceanic bottlenecks on the global economy is staggering,” said Jett McCandless, Founder and CEO of project44, in adding, “Given the critical nature of the port blockages, we released Port Intel as a service to enable global shippers to identify where the delays are occurring and how they can mitigate delays and avoid future crises. Just days after closing our acquisition, it was amazing to see the p44 and Ocean Insights teams move quickly to integrate our solutions and deliver Port Intel.” As the global economy rebounds from COVID-19, virtually every business is impacted in some way by disruptions in international shipping, with port delays, lack of capacity, container shortages, and other imbalances all wreaking havoc on trade. With so much at stake, Port Intel is a timely solution for frustrated supply chain professionals. Port Intel helps them assess the status of their shipments and supply chain, allowing for proactive planning and risk mitigation. Users can access the report by visiting the Port Intel site and entering vessel identifiers, bill of lading identifiers or ocean container numbers. Using these details, Port Intel generates customized updates that include projected time out and port dwell times. The reports are curated by project44’s visibility experts to provide recommendations …

To facilitate assessment of containers requirement as well its fulfilment, FIEO has developed a first level marketplace wherein exporters can post their container demands online. The e-module will help in ground level assessment of containers required in the country while simultaneously enabling the exporting community to negotiate competitive quotes for their requirements. The web link has been made live and exporters across the country have started posting their container requirement for various origin-destination pairs. The containers requirement uploaded through the e-module are also made visible to shipping lines, freight forwarders or others so that they can express their interest to fulfil such demands. This will also help them to better assess the demand of containers in the country so as to meet it with repositioning of containers or bringing empties. The e-module will also address the issue of container shortage reported by exporters, affecting their shipments and pulling down country’s exports and claims made by shipping lines that they are fully equipped to provide containers between 1-3 days at all locations for all destinations except for few destinations in Africa as congestions and berthing of ships at these destinations is taking 8-10 days’ time.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Ministry of Ports and Shipping of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, acting on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, pursuant to approval from the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers for the development and operations of West Container Terminal (WCT) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. APSEZ will partner with John Keells Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest diversified conglomerate, and with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) as a part of the consortium awarded this mandate. The WCT will be developed on a Build, Operate and Transfer basis for a period of 35 years as a public-private partnership. WCT will have a quay length of 1400 meters and alongside depth of 20 meters, thereby making it a prime transhipment cargo destination to handle Ultra Large Container Carriers. The project is expected to boost WCT’s container handling capacity and further consolidate Sri Lanka’s locational advantage as one of the world’s top strategic nodes along the busiest global transhipment route. The Colombo Port is already the most preferred regional hub for transhipment of Indian containers and mainline ship operators with 45 per cent of Colombo’s transhipment volumes either originating from or destined to an Adani port terminal in India. The network impact of this partnership is significant and expected to be mutually benefitted from the string of 7 container terminals across its 12 ports that Adani operates along the Indian coastline handling an annual volume of over 6 million TEUs. This partnership will multiply and accelerate the transhipment options that will become available to serve various shipping lines and other potential port customers across the …

project44 has announced that it has acquired Ocean Insights to expand its ocean solution by adding the broadest container tracking capabilities in the market, as well as one-of-a-kind sailing schedule and ocean analytics products; terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Combining Ocean Insights’ tracking and analytics with the project44 platform and ecosystem establishes project44 as the clear market leader with an unrivaled set of multi-modal solutions for end-to-end supply chain visibility. Surging global trade since the outset of the pandemic has resulted in massive disruptions in the global supply chain. Since March 2020, freight rates increased by as much as 174 per cent due to the increased global demand for electronics, PPE goods and stay-at-home consumer products. At the same time, COVID-19 and other restrictions have caused significant port congestions, and rollover percentages have never been higher. To meet these global challenges and build resilience, supply chain leaders are adopting global freight visibility and digitalisation. Headquartered in Germany and founded in 2012, Ocean Insights pioneered ocean freight visibility by combining carrier data, live vessel tracking and sailing schedule data in one data-rich platform. Tracking 350,000 containers daily, Ocean Insights provides track and trace functionality across the vast majority of shipping lines, 700 seaports, and more than 5,000 vessels as well as handling over five million sailing schedule changes per day. “Ocean freight is a linchpin for global supply chains. For organisations shipping internationally, the lack of ocean visibility can start a costly domino effect throughout the supply chain,” said Jett McCandless, Founder and CEO of project44. “Ocean Insights has dominated the container tracking space and we look forward to providing the industry not only the best ocean capabilities, but …

DP World and CMA CGM jointly received their maiden Block Train from Mundra, Gujarat to DP World PFT (ICD) Panipat, Haryana. This new service is the first block train by a shipping line between Mundra and Panipat. The fully loaded 90-TEU train was flagged off from Mundra port on February 27, 2021. The service was received in the presence of representatives from DP World and CMA CGM India. The dedicated connections between the Port of Mundra and the inland container depot of Panipat will provide dedicated and seamless connection from Mundra Port to PFT (ICD) Panipat, thereby, making customers’ cargo reach internal markets faster. With priority rail out option and fixed train schedule, customers will be able to minimise waiting time at the Port as well as plan their cargo movements effectively. Train will depart Mundra Port on Saturday/Sunday. Ranadhir Reddy, CEO, Rail & PFT, Subcontinent, DP World said, “At DP World, it is our constant endeavors to offer bespoke solutions to our customers to solve their supply chain challenges and support their strategic growth ambitions. Our pan India network provides seamless connectivity that helps customers connect their cargo to global markets as well as across India’s vast hinterland. Through our investments, we are committed to enhance India’s rail freight share and offer trade solutions using multimodal logistics.” Atit Mahajan, General Manager, CMA CGM India, declares, “We are pleased to be the first shipping line to offer a block train service between Mundra and Panipat in collaboration with DP World. This service is the 10th dedicated block train service being operated by the CMA CGM Group in India. This service will provide a dedicated and direct loop from port to …

The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) is acquiring the 31.5 per cent stake held by Windy Lakeside Investment (an affiliate of Warburg Pincus) in Gangavaram Port (GPL). The acquisition is valued at Rs 1,954 crore and subject to regulatory approvals. GPL is located in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh next to Vizag Port. It is the second largest non-major port in Andhra Pradesh with a 64 MMT capacity established under concession from Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) that extends till 2059. It is an all-weather, deep water, multi-purpose port capable of handling fully laden super cape size vessels of up to 200,000 DWT. Currently, GPL operates 9 berths and has free hold land of ~1,800 acres. With a master plan capacity for 250 MMTPA with 31 berths, GPL has sufficient headroom to support future growth. GPL handles a diverse mix of dry and bulk commodities including Coal, Iron Ore, Fertilizer, Limestone, Bauxite, Sugar, Alumina, and Steel. GPL is the gateway port for a hinterland spread over 8 states across eastern, western, southern and central India. In FY20, GPL had a cargo volume of 34.5 MMT, generated revenue of INR 1,082 crore, EBITDA of INR 634 crore (margin of 59%) and PAT of Rs 516 crore GPL is debt free with cash balance of over INR 500 crore. The Company has a paid up equity share capital of 51.7 crore shares of which 58.1% is owned by DVS Raju and Family (Promoter), 10.4% by Government of Andhra Pradesh and 31.5% by Warburg Pincus. APSEZ is acquiring the Warburg Pincus stake of ~16.3 crore shares (31.5%) at Rs 120/share which works out to a consideration of Rs 1,954 crore. …

Railways undertook a successful trial run of double stacked dwarf container train from Mehsana (Gujarat) to JN Port on March 3, 2021. The ‘dwarf’ containers provides 67 per cent increase in volume when double-stacked and can carry a weight of 71 tons, against 40 tons by an ISO container. Indian Railways has given 17 per cent discount on haulage cost for double stack dwarf container trains compared to double stack ISO container trains coupled with additional volume benefit. JN Port is in the process of finalising an Operator for “Management, Maintenance and Operation of Dedicated Dwarf Container Depot (D-Depot) inside the Port area at JNPT”. Inside the D-Depot, ISO EXIM containers will be destuffed/restuffed and then re-stuffed in Dwarf Containers for further movement on rail to and from JN Port. The train with five wagons of double stacked dwarf containers arrived at 11:30 hours and departed at 13:00 hours. The concept of Dwarf container would be game changer as the rail movement of EXIM cargo through double stacked dwarf containers would significantly provide cost advantage to the customers and enhance rail traffic at JN Port.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited the world to come to India and be a part of India’s growth trajectory. India is very serious about growing in the maritime sector and emerging as a leading Blue Economy of the world. Through the focus areas of upgradation of infrastructure, boosting reform journey, India aims to strengthen the vision of Aatamnirbhar Bharat, he said. Prime Minister has inaugurated the ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ through video conferencing. He noted that instead of a piecemeal approach focus is on the entire sector as one. He informed that capacity of major ports have increased from 870 million tonnes in 2014 to 1550 million tonnes now. Indian ports now have measures such as Direct port Delivery, Direct Port Entry and an upgraded Port Community System (PCS) for easy data flow. Our ports have reduced waiting time for inbound and outbound cargo. He also informed that mega ports with world class infrastructure are being developed in Vadhavan, Paradip and Deendayal Port in Kandla. The Prime Minister asserted that “Ours is a Government that is investing in waterways in a way that was never seen before. Domestic waterways are found to be cost effective and environment friendly ways of transporting freight. We aim to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030.” He also pointed out that India has as many as 189 lighthouses across its vast coastline. “We have drawn up a programme for developing tourism in the land adjacent to 78 lighthouses. The key objective of this initiative is to enhance development of the existing lighthouses and its surrounding areas into unique maritime tourism landmarks”, Shri Modi informed. He announced that steps are also being taken to introduce urban …

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has signed over 30 MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with potential investors for port projects, technology transfer and development of plots in JNPT SEZ for an amount of around Rs27000 crore. The MoU was signed by Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT in presence of Unmesh Wagh, IRS, Deputy Chairman, JNPT. The investments by DP World, JM Baxi & Co., Ganesh Benzo, BPCL, NITIE, SS G Pharma, Sooraj Agro, JWR Logistic, Cineline India are some of the companies that have signed MoUs towards Manufacturing, IT services, Warehousing/Cold Storage, FTWZ, Pharma, Confectionary Manufacturing, Engineering Services, Food Processing. Speaking on the occasion, Sethi said, “JNPT is dedicated towards setting quality benchmarks for the port industry across the globe and we have systematically invested in improving the port’s operating efficiency and handling capacity to enable seamless trade escalating its growth trajectory. We have signed over 30 MoUs with various companies at the ‘Maritime India summit’. This will help establish JNPT as one of the premier investment destinations in the country, as we continue to remain an attractive investment destination even after the impact of COVID -19 across the globe. Even during these trying times, JNPT has attracted around Rs27,000 crore worth of new investments. The signing of the MoUs will provide vast employment opportunities and various benefits to the EXIM Trade. Additionally, this will open opportunities within India and in the international coastal lines.”