Category Archives: Shipping

According to the Q4 2018 trade report released by Maersk, India’s containerised trade with the world has grown steadily, recording an overall import-export trade growth of six per cent. Increasing demand for refrigerated cargo from India coupled with improved trade relations with China, with introduction of favourable trade policies, has driven exports to grow a healthy three per cent in Q4. The demand for India-made goods such as vehicles, cereals and rice supplemented by refrigerated cargo such as fish, seafood, vegetables and pharmaceuticals saw maximum growth in exports. Imports maintained a stable growth of nine per cent, largely driven by substantial inflow of metals and paper. Overall, the containerised trade witnessed stable growth withstanding the fluctuations of global trade tensions. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, “We witnessed a stable trade environment in the last quarter of 2018 due to base effects, weakening demand of goods in China, overall contraction in manufacturing around the world, and the global trade tensions between major economies. The stable growth in trade indicates that the economy has been able to sail through some of these challenges, including the impact of regulatory reforms such as demonetisation and implementation of GST.”

At FFFAI’s ninth Executive Committee meeting in New Delhi, several issues, including the recently-announced national cargo policy, draft logistics policy, recent changes in GST, and trade opportunities between India and Iran, were discussed. Asghar Omidi, Counsellor, Economic Section, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasised on the strategic importance of Chabahar Port in Iran to script the success of the Indo-Iran trade relationship, which has already been enjoying a rich cultural as well as personal relationship of people of the two countries. He pointed out that presently, India is Iran’s sixth trade partner, with $13.10bn in trade, and with support from Indian logistics stakeholders, the bilateral trade can be increased manifold. “The India-Iran bilateral trade can easily reach $20bn in the near future,” he said. Omidi also invited Indian freight forwarders and logistics companies to visit Iran to witness infrastructure facilities, including Chabahar Port, and explore business opportunities. Facilities at Chabahar Port are being developed in association with Government of India and Indian expertise, and the first phase of the port is operational now.

The Indian government has introduced a new transhipment procedure using an electronic cargo tracking system to facilitate the transport of Nepal-bound transit cargo from Kolkata, a significant move that will simplify border formalities, reduce transit time, ensure safety of the consignment, and boost bilateral trade. The first train carrying Nepal-bound transit containers under the new simplified transhipment procedure was flagged off on February 15 by Kolkata Port Trust. According to a press statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs of the Government of India launched such a modality on pilot basis on rail route from Kolkata/Haldia to Birgunj via Raxual Land Customs Station and Biratnagar via Bathnaha Railway Station and Jogbani Land Customs Station.

Maersk has commenced its first inland containerised cargo movement in India through the country’s first multimodal terminal on River Ganga (National Waterway-1), from Varanasi to Kolkata. The shipping line deployed 16 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) on MV Rabindranath Tagore that will be plying from the Varanasi terminal to RR Jetty in Kolkata, covering a distance of 1390 km. Steve Felder, Managing Director – South Asia, Maersk, says, “We truly believe that India’s trade growth is hidden in our hinterlands. As the global integrator of container logistics, we are focused on providing efficient supply chain solutions for our customers, and efficiently linking Indian importers and exporters in hinterland locations with markets around the world. The initiative will help facilitate the cargo movement from the hinterland to directly move to and from Bangladesh and the rest of the world through the Bay of Bengal.”

CONCOR and RZD Logistics (RZDL), a Russian Railways company, have agreed to jointly develop multimodal logistics services along INSTC (International North South Transport Corridor) route. The MoU signed between the two purports to explore opportunities in developing joint logistical projects both in India and in Russia, using international transport corridors, to include the International North South Transport Corridor. With the signing of MoU, both companies intend to set up joint enhancement of Indian-Russian logistical cooperation, develop prospective projects related to container transhipment between the countries, design new top-quality logistical services, and aim at further efficiency improvement of the INSTC route.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) successfully carried out loading of a heavy lift export project cargo. This equipment consisted of sub-assemblies of barge loading machine for mine development and export facilities for Guinea, Africa. The loading was completed successfully in 36 hours. The consignment of 1115 MT had 132 packages of which the single heaviest piece (Main Boom-Shuttle boom assembly) had length of 62 metres and weighed 384 tons. This whole exercise also showed the support from JNPT towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative. This consignment was part of an international EPC contract of Shapoorji Pallonji & Company, and JM Baxi was the vessel agent.

As per the latest Lloyds Report, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is the only Indian Container Port to be listed amongst the top 30 Container Ports globally. JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking. The good news of rising in the global ranking was shared by the Chairman at the quarterly interactive meeting with all stakeholders, organised at JNPT recently. This was the first stakeholder interactive meeting of the year 2019 and was attended by officials and representatives of Terminal Operators, CFSAI, CSLA, MANSA, INSA, AMTOI, Customs and various Shipping Lines. Another point of adulation at the meeting was, JNPT crossing the 5 million TEUs handling milestone, in 2018.

The maiden coastal voyage of a vessel of Container Corporation of India (Concor) was flagged off by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways and Coal from Kandla through video link from Delhi on January 10, 2019. The vessel SSL Mumbai is sailing from Kandla Port to Tuticorin via Mangalore and Cochin. This is a unique example of multi-modal logistics solution through integrated rail and coastal movement. With this CONCOR will start coastal movement of containers as a weekly service on this route, moving about 1400 containers. Gadkari expressed confidence that this modal shift in the logistics chain was an important beginning that would help to bring down logistics costs and make Indian goods more competitive in the global markets in the very near future.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) organised a port study-tour for the largest global congregation ever to visit any port in India. The congregation included 38 government officials from 36 countries, who are part of the Global Strategic Growth Leadership & Sustainable Development program initiated by ITEC with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Neeraj Bansal, Chairman-in-Charge, JNPT, said, “India is a significant contributor to the global container cargo business and JNPT has been the driving force behind this growth, accounting for around 53 per cent of the total containerised cargo volume, across the major ports of India. We are delighted to have government officials from so many countries coming together, here, to understand our role in the global perspective. Such collaborative efforts help in promotion of trade between India and the rest of the world which will give a fillip to Indian economy.” The delegates represented host of nations like, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, Iraq, Srilanka, Nigeria, Colombia, South Africa, Egypt, Guinea, Peru, Kenya and Vietnam.

JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) has organised a five-day seminar on ‘Engineering & Procurement’ as part of its industry skill development initiative. Commenting on the programme, Neeraj Bansal, IRS, Chairman-in-Charge, JNPT, said, “We started the JNPT APEC Training Centre with an aim to provide timely skill and knowledge upgrade to port professionals so they would be abreast with the latest trends in the industry. This will thus enhance the overall efficiency and quality of the port services across India and Asia.” The seminar will focus on all engineering aspects related to the port and an in-depth understanding into workings of procurement and their importance in port strategy.