Category Archives: Shipping

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President, Sri Lanka has informed that 49 per cent of the investment in Colombo Port will come from the Adani Group and other stakeholders in developing a container terminal at the strategically coveted Colombo Port. President Rajapaksa was addressing representatives of the Port’s worker unions, amid their persisting resistance to any foreign involvement in the proposed project to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT). “The ECT will not be sold or leased,” he assured them, adding that the foreign investments would cause no harm to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty or independence, according to a statement issued by the President’s office. The development comes a week after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo, during which he reportedly urged the Sri Lankan side to expedite finalising the deal. While 66 per cent of the transhipment business at the terminal is linked to India, New Delhi’s strategic interest in having a presence at the Port, located along one of the world’s shipping lanes, is no secret. However, Sri Lankan port trade unions were not convinced with the proposal of Indian multinational company Adani Group and its partners buying 49 per cent stake in the Eastern Container Terminal (ETC) of Colombo Port, the trade unions says a day after President Rajapaksa met them to explain the need for foreign funding.

Recording the last 20 months highest container volume handled in a month, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), handled 459,920 TEUs in the month of December 2020. The container traffic increased by 9.90 per cent over the same month of last year and the overall traffic grew by 10.04 per cent to 6.37 million tonnes from the 5.79 million tonnes handled in December 2019. Also, in rail operations the port handled a record 556 rakes in December 2020. The average monthly terminal handling time of trains improved to 4:42 hours in December from 6:18 hours in September. The average monthly turn-around time of trains (from placement to removal of trains) also reduced to 9:35 hours in December from 13:34 hours in September. In the calendar year 2020, the total container traffic handled by port is 4.47 million TEUs, with APM Terminals Mumbai (GTI) handling 1.69 million TEUs, DP World NSIGT – 0.77 million TEUs, DP World NSICT – 0.64 million TEUs , JNPCT – 0.56 million TEUs and BMCT handled 0.81 million TEUs. Overall traffic handled in the CY 2020 was 62.32 million tonnes including Liquid and other cargo. Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT says, “CY 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us but we can look back with a certain degree of satisfaction on what we did to keep JNPT up and running and help maintain the supply of essential goods and trade flows critical for the country. I am thankful to all our stakeholders and employees for lending a helping hand as the team effort helped us sail through the pandemic and credit is also due to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways for the …

In a bid to commence coastal shipping services, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will collaborate with Inland Waterways Authority (IWAI). The coastal shipping activities will be undertaken by its wholly-owned subsidiary – Inland & Coastal Shipping. “We will announce a collaboration with IWAI very soon. We are commencing coastal shipping operations,” says HK Joshi, SCI, Chairman and Managing Director. Inland & Coastal Shipping, a Kolkata-headquartered company, is likely to start its operation on national waterway-1, the stretch from Varanasi to Haldia on Ganga river. Coastal shipping accounts for only two per cent of the country’s freight movement. SCI has interests in various segments of the shipping trade, and its fleet includes bulk carriers, crude oil tankers, container vessels and passenger-cum-cargo ships. At a time when exporters are facing a shortage of containers, Joshi emphasised the importance of making the country self-reliant in terms of its availability.

In a bid to enhance connectivity to South East Asia and China, DP World operated Chennai Container Terminal (CCT) has added a new China–East India Service, ‘CI5 service’. The service is operated by a consortium of five vessel operators – Wan Hai Lines, Interasia Lines, KMTC, Goldstar Lines and BTL. The new CI5 service is the first-ever service from Chennai that will provide direct connection to Pasir Gudang, Malaysia and Kaohsiung, Taiwan and will also offer direct connectivity to key ports of China in Shekou and Qingdao on the East Bound leg. The service started with the maiden call of vessel ‘MV Interasia Heritage’ on January 5, 2021. The vessel arrived from Port Kelang and carried total exchange of 4690 TEUs of which 2685 TEUs were Import and 2005 TEUs export. Inclusion of this service reinforces Chennai Port’s position as South India’s major trade gateway with state-of-the-art facilities and best-in-class infrastructure to effectively serve growing needs of the trade. MV Interasia Heritage is one of the six 4250 TEUs capacity vessels which will call the DP World Chennai terminal. Capt. R. Venkatesh, CEO, DP World Chennai, welcomed the partners of the new service and reiterated the terminal’s efforts to render world-class customer service and to deliver best-in-class operational performance. The new service will allow customers to connect their cargo efficiently with better frequency and service coverage as well as boost the growing trade between China / South East Asia, and East coast of India. P. Raveendran, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, says, “We welcome the new service and look forward to more customers selecting Chennai as their preferred port of call. By the recent declaration of VRC rebates to vessels engaged …

MSC has announced a new direct service from India to West Africa, the MSC India Africa Service (IAS), effective from week 3, 2021 to enhance its services to customers shipping goods between India and Africa. The MSC IAS will provide a direct, fast and reliable service to our clients further demonstrating our commitment to the Indian trade, connecting Northwest and South India to West Africa, with a call at Colombo in Sri Lanka. On the way back, this new service will also connect South Africa directly with the Middle East, Pakistan and India. The rotation of India Africa Service will be as follows with the first sailing MP The Law, ETD Mundra on January 24, 2021: Mundra – Nhava Sheva – Colombo – Port Louis – Tema – Lome – Cotonou – Cape town – Durban – Jebel Ali – Abu Dhabi – Port Qasim – Mundra

Reacting to December 2020 export figures, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO said that the monthly exports have moved towards positive territory as major export products show signs of further revival as expected. Marginal decline of just 0.8 per cent with US$ 26.89 billion of exports showing signs of revival as order booking position have continuously improved besides more new orders in the offing. He reiterated that the New Year 2021 has brought a ray of hope and optimism for all from the worst of Covid-19 and effective vaccines are expected to bring both life and economy back on growth trajectory with a v-shaped recovery in world trade. Arrival of vaccines have also helped in boosting the business sentiments for the sector as a whole, which can be further seen from the positive figures of the upcoming months said Saraf. FIEO President added that December exports also signals that our traditional and labour-intensive sectors of exports have passed the most challenging and testing times as both Christmas and New Year Season sales have shown positive trends with further improvement in coming months. Going ahead by this trend, we expect our inventories to be liquidated, adding further to the overall demand, observed Saraf. FIEO Chief said that the exports of other cereals along with oil meals, iron-ore, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items, jute mfg. including floor covering, handicrafts excl. hand-made carpet, carpet, ceramic products and glassware, drugs and pharmaceuticals, spices, electronic goods, fruits and vegetables, organic and inorganic chemicals, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products etc., rice, meat, dairy and poultry products, gems and jewellery, mica, coal and other ores, minerals including process, tea and engineering goods showed either a very high or …

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the project Deepening and Optimization of Inner Harbour Facilities including Development of Western Dock on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode to handle cape size vessels at Paradip Port. The estimated cost of the project is Rs3,004.63 crore, which includes the development of the new Western Dock on BOT basis and capital dredging by the selected Concessionaire at a cost of Rs.2,040 Crore and Rs 352.13 crores respectively; and Paradip Port’s investment will be to the tune of Rs612.50 crore towards providing common supporting project infrastructure. The decision was taken in CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proposed project envisages Construction of Western Dock Basin with facilities to handle cape size vessels by the selected BOT Concessionaire with an ultimate capacity of 25 MTPA (Million tonnes per annum) in two phases of 12.50 MTPA each. The Concession period shall be 30 years from the date of Award of Concession. Paradip Port Trust (Concessioning Authority) shall provide the Common Supporting Project Infrastructure works like breakwater extension and other ancillary works to facilitate handling of cape size vessels.

As per the ICRA report on Ports sector, cargo at Indian ports has turned positive for the first time after seven consecutive months in October and November 2020, recording a three per cent and one per cent Y-o-Y growth respectively. During March-September 2020, the Indian port sector has been adversely impacted due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown introduced by India and other major economies. Although, the sector was classified under essential services and remained operational post the initial period of lockdown, the adverse impact on the domestic economic activity as well as slowdown in global trade has resulted in steep contraction in cargo volumes at the Indian ports. While positive growth in the past two months is positive, for the 8M FY2021, cargo has reported a 12 per cent decline however, the same is significant improvement compared to the 22 per cent decline recorded in Q1 FY2021. The pace of decline has moderated sequentially every month for key cargo segments, indicating continuing signs of a recovery. Ankit Patel, Vice President and Co-Head, ICRA Ratings, mentions, “POL, coal and container segment have witnessed a contraction with ~13%, ~23% and ~12% Y-o-Y decline during 8M FY2021. However, there are definite signs of recovery given that in October-November these three segments recorded significantly better performance than previous months. The pace of recovery in the port sector will be contingent on the pace of recovery of the domestic industrial activity and the global economy. Further, factors like changes in the global supply chain pattern during the recovery phase will also have an impact on the cargo profile. Despite the expectation of a better H2FY2021, due to the significant under-performance in H1FY2021, …

Hyderabad-based Seaways Shipping and Logistics has entered into a pact with the MOL Logistics (India) for providing end-to-end supply chain and turnkey logistics services to customers across the country. The partnership will also enable the two companies to associate in prospective bids and project proposals with various clients in India and abroad. Seaway Group offers a complete range of logistics services across the globe while MOL Logistics (India) is a part of the Japan-based MOL logistics. “Both MOL Logistics and Seaways are well-established large players in this industry, and we are uniquely placed to leverage our individual strengths,” said P Vivek Anand, Director (Marketing), Seaways. Anand continues, “While Seaways has a strong understanding of the Indian business environment and enjoys the confidence of a large client base, MOL Logistics brings to the table its global network, long-standing clients and an enviable track record. We will now be able to offer our customers a wide range of shipping and logistics solutions that are more efficient and cost-effective across any part of the world.” The areas of collaboration cover all turnkey logistics activities including warehousing, customs clearance, container line (NVOCC), vessel agency, transportation/trucking, bulk cargo handling and supply chain management, among others, said the release. “India has tremendous potential for growth, and we are looking forward to this collaboration with Seaways Shipping. The MOL Logistics Group will meet a wide variety of customer needs by making full use of its global network and logistics know-how such as air and ocean transport, cross-border transport with neighbouring countries, domestic transportation, warehousing, customs clearance, moving services, and plant and project cargo transportation,” said Ryoji Yamamoto, Director of MOL Logistics (India).

Freightwalla has announced partnership with TradeLens; a blockchain enabled digital supply chain solution jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, to provide unparalleled visibility and connectivity for shipper’s international shipments. Improving transparency, traceability, and rapid response mechanism has been a significant concern for the shipping and logistics industry. With robust end-to-end connectivity of all stakeholders with the blockchain technology, the partnership will strengthen the overall supply chain transparency. The association will further fast-track the digitization revolution in the industry. Speaking on the occasion, Punit Java, Co-Founder & CTO, Freightwalla, says, “As a digital freight forwarder, our mission is to improve transparency and reduce costs for our partners and customers. Freightwalla getting on board the TradeLens platform will enable seamless connectivity between all stakeholders in the logistics ecosystem, including transporters, shipping lines, ports, and financial institutions. It will enable shippers to get full visibility into their shipments and reduce the overall cost of logistics.” The company has developed its own digital freight forwarding app for the EXIM fraternity and plans to link it with TradeLens, providing its customers unparalleled transparency and visibility while shipping internationally. Java, who also heads the development of Freightwalla’s digital freight forwarding platform, believes that TradeLens will help reduce the operational overheads and errors by enabling the automation of significant parts of the operational process. Bimal Kanal, Head – South Asia, TradeLens, mentions, “TradeLens is an industry-wide neutral platform aiming at digitalising supply chains and the logistics industries. We aim to bring as many stakeholders involved in the logistics sector as possible onto the platform and create an efficient, digital ecosystem that will drive benefits to one and all. Freightwalla’s moves towards digital transformation are helping shippers to …