In a bid to provide the seamless solutions in transporting temperature sensitive COVID-19 vaccine, SpiceXpress has joined hands with Om Logistics. This strategic partnership is envisioned to not only provide a speedy and reliable solution for vaccine delivery but to also create a sustainable cold chain network both, domestically and internationally. The cargo carrier has its cargo network spread over 54 domestic and 40 international destinations, and with a current fleet of 15 dedicated freighter aircraft in addition to its passenger aircraft Fleet; it has the ability to carry over 500 tonnes of cargo per day. Om Logistics has an extensive international and domestic presence, with its 1,200 offices worldwide and the ability to cater to more than 19,000 pin codes in India. In the COVID-19 vaccine movement, the company will provide the refrigerated trucks to cover the first-mile pickups and the last-mile deliveries on pan India basis, while SpiceXpress with the introduction of the ‘Spice Pharma Pro’ solution and robust ground handling infrastructure will provide the secure and safe line haul for the extremely sensitive vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from -40°c to +25°c.

As the domestic economy rebounds with the easing of lockdown restrictions, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) handled 413,737 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in November, clocking a growth of 7.61 per cent over the same month last year. The overall traffic including containers handled at JNPT during November grew 9.04 per cent to 5.70 million tons from the 5.22 million tonnes in November 2019. The total traffic in November includes 0.59 million tons of bulk cargo compared to 0.55 million tons in the same month last year. The average monthly terminal handling time of trains improved to 4:28 hours in November from 4:48 hours in October and 6:18 hours in September. The average monthly turn-around time of trains (from placement to removal of trains) has reduced to 9:08 hours in November from 9:45 hours in October and 13:34 hours in September. The newly opened Centralised Parking Plaza at JNPT handled 43,619 tractor trailers in November which carried 68,909 TEUs. “JNPT will continue to support the country’s economic growth and perform its duties to maintain the growth trajectory of the port sector. The growth in cargo handling volumes in November indicate recovery and these trends will continue into the last quarter of the present financial year,” said, Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT. Despite the few ups and downs, JNPT has managed to keep the operations going on the back of improvements in operational efficiency and enhancements in cargo handling capacity to enable seamless movement of trade and be the port of choice for the EXIM community, Sethi said. In November, JNPT completed the construction of a coastal berth with the capacity to handle 2.5 million tons of coastal cargo including liquid …

In the past three months, DP World operated International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Cochin has consistently surpassed monthly volumes of over 60,000 TEUs. The terminal achieved its all-time highest monthly throughput of more than 66,000 TEUs in November 2020, registering a 43% Year-on-Year growth. The terminal also achieved a key milestone of successfully handling 4.5 million TEUs since inception. Despite the ongoing crisis, the terminal’s volumes have increased significantly with customers preferring to ship out of Cochin. With regular rail service setup between the terminal and ICD Whitefield in Bangalore with the support of CONCOR and the Indian Railways, the cargo from other states has increased. In 2020, the terminal has seen an impressive four-fold increase in rail volumes as compared to 2019. DP World Cochin also recorded highest ever transhipment volume of 12,326 TEUs in November 2020, recording over 40% Year-on-Year growth in YTD transhipment volumes. The terminal has been able to support customers who are facing challenges at neighbouring international hubs, by handling 9 mainline services carrying transhipment cargo. With the support of Cochin Port Trust, the terminal successfully connected 50% of Exim volumes on Mainline vessels connecting Cochin to Middle East, China, Far East, Europe and Mediterranean and thereby, reducing India’s cargo dependence on neighbouring transhipment hubs. DP World Cochin enjoys a strategic geographic location. Cargo from all industrial clusters in Kerala and the major ones in Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore, Pollachi, Tirupur and other hubs) can reach the terminal within six hours. The terminal offers faster and reliable connectivity to the hinterland through multimodal transportation including rail and inland waterways. With better ecosystem and port infrastructure, DP World Cochin is poised to handle even higher volumes …

Regional Container Lines (RCL) has commenced their service from Haldia to Port Klang. The addition of new service has opened up more feeder space for importers and exporters. The vessel, M.V. Nawata Bhum, loaded 211 Laden TEUs made her maiden call to Haldia International Container Terminal (HICT), Haldia Dock Complex, SMP Kolkata for Port Klang, Malaysia. AK Mehra, Deputy Chairman HDC; AK Mahapatra, GM Traffic HDC; K Pandurangan, Branch Manager, Chakiat Shipping and Capt. Sudeep Banerjee, Terminal Head HICT, along with other Port officials were present at the inaugural ceremony.

After successful shipments earlier this year, Delta has proven capabilities for transporting COVID-19 vaccines. With large warehouses and cooler facilities in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York-JFK and Seattle, and a network of 49 certified Pharma airports across the globe, Delta has capabilities in place to support vaccine shipments at home and around the world. In addition to robust domestic shipment capabilities to support rapid distribution within the US, Delta has a broad and nimble global distribution function in coordination with Air France KLM Martinair Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo that enables end-to-end compliance and assurance for customers across its broad network. “Effective and rapid distribution of the vaccines as they reach final approvals is one of the most critical elements in containing the virus,” said Rob Walpole, Vice President, Delta Cargo. “That’s why we created a vaccine task force months ago charged with understanding requirements and working with healthcare and pharmaceutical experts, building scalable solutions to support the industry. After successfully shipping test vaccines throughout the summer and fall, we are confident in our capability and stand ready to help ensure approved vaccines are broadly distributed,” he added.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has announced the launch of SamrtAir! for the real-time tracking of air cargo shipment. Together with the Bonn-based start-up BlueBox Systems, Hellmann developed a web-based platform, which aims to provide customers with information about their air freight shipments, regardless of airline, route or type of shipment. Based on GPS coordinates, SmartAir! will be providing information on all stopovers and loading times for live tracking of shipments. The system offers numerous analysis options for the performance of individual airlines, routes and airports, aiming towards the optimisation of supply chain management. The company also offers tracking for sea freight and the generally applicable smart visibility tracker. These can record, in addition to tracking data, information on humidity, temperature, incidence of light, vibration and door opening, thus enabling detailed transport control of shipments. “SmartAir! is a real game-changer in the tracking of airfreight shipments, which has not been available in the market in this way before. In times of digitalisation and ever smaller time windows for decisions, quickly available real-time data within global supply chains are becoming increasingly important. This will also be of particular relevance in the upcoming distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” says Henning Pottharst, Product Manager – Smart Visibility, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.

Chowgule Brothers has announced the successful management of W Oslo, the largest cargo ship to be handled at the inner harbour of Visakhapatnam port. The vessel’s entry to the port was orchestrated by Chowgule Brothers in close association with the Vizag port, thereby establishing its expertise in handling cargo as well as charters of all sizes. Port of Visakhapatnam has created a new record by handling the said vessel. The Merchant vessel W. OSLO was carrying 87,529 tonnes of Steam Coal from Richards Bay, South Africa for M/s Sarda Metal and Alloys, Sarda Energy Minerals for discharging at Visakhapatnam Port. The port agency for the entire shipment was Chowgule Brothers Private Limited. The vessel is expected to sail from the port on December 7, 2020. The receiver of the cargo, Sharda Metals approached Chowgule Brothers to be their shipping agency for the large vessel with coal from South Africa. The specific requirement was to enable the movement of the gigantic ship into the inner harbour at Visakhapatnam port. Chowgule Brothers worked with the port authorities in the smooth berthing of the vessel with a beam measuring 38 meters that is almost twice the size of two lawn tennis courts. Commenting on this achievement, Aditya Chowgule, Director, Chowgule Brothers, said, “The entire exercise of enabling the berthing of W Oslo at Visakhapatnam Port is an example of Chowgule Brothers belief in adding value and going the extra mile for making the client’s requirement possible. We are thankful to the Vizag port authorities for helping us in this very challenging execution. The successful completion of this project has driven us to set the bar higher when it comes to delivering logistical solutions …

In line with the company’s vision, OM Logistics has expanded its warehousing facility with the inauguration of a novel project at Chakan, Pune. The upcoming and actively unfolding industrial hub of Chakan will serve as an ideal location through which the company hopes to serve all industries with logistics solutions. With an investment totaling Rs 125 crore, the new warehousing facility sprawls across 23 acres and is situated near the main highway with proposed warehousing capacity of 3,50,000 square feet. During Phase 1 of construction, 1,50,000 square feet of the warehousing park has already been built, while Phase 2, aiming for another 2,00,000 square feet, is proposed to be completed soon. Raghav Singhal, Director, Om Logistics, said, “We are happy and excited to launch the new, state-of-the-art warehouse facility at Chakan, Pune. With the new facility and investment, we will have an enhanced capability to fulfill logistics and warehousing solution for any business. Our strategy always aims to provide the best-in-class services that reach every corner.” “We are already equipped with advanced warehouse technology system & latest software that spans across 20 million square feet pan India. With the growing facilities, we are currently servicing over 19,000 Pin Codes and more than 1500 locations throughout the country. As the need for logistics and supply chain management grows, we want to enable companies to grow to their full potential, for which, we are looking forward to expanding our base to many more locations in the near future,” he added. Akash Bansal, Marketing Head, OM Logistics, said, “For more than two decades we have been aiming for and have constantly been offering world-class service to our clients with the best facilities and …

Responding to November 2020 export figures, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO, said that the monthly exports have shown a single-digit negative growth of 9.07 per cent with US$ 25.77 billion due to supply side disruptions including restricted container movement and declining petroleum exports due to its crashing prices. Besides, farmers’ agitations in some of the hinterland states have also affected exports during the month. Exports have been seeing sign of revival as order booking position has continuously improved and more new orders are in the offing. Saraf reiterated that the forecast of the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic vaccine along with gradual lifting of lockdown across the country and the globe has also helped in boosting the business sentiments for the sector as a whole, which can be expected to be seen from the positive figures of the upcoming months. “Going by this trend, we expect to end the financial 2020-21 with an overall merchandise exports of about US$ 290 billion,” he adds. Exporters have continuously been receiving a lot of enquiries and orders further adding to the positive sentiments with signals of further resilience in the global supply chain. However, the litmus test for the traditional sectors of our exports would be the Christmas and New Year sale. If that goes well, the inventory will be liquidated, adding to further demand, observed Saraf. FIEO Chief said that the exports of other cereals along with oil meals, iron-ore, rice, ceramic products and glassware, handicrafts excluding hand-made carpet, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed item, carpet, jute mfg. including floor covering, spices, drugs and pharmaceuticals, tobacco, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products etc., fruits and vegetables, tea, gems and jewellery, mica, coal and other …

Continuing to maintain the high momentum in terms of earnings and loading, Indian Railways has marked nine per cent increase in the month of November 2020. Indian Railways loading was 109.68 million tonnes which includes 48.48 million tonnes of coal, 13.77 million tonnes of iron ore, 5.1 million tonnes of food grains. On mission mode, Indian Railways’ freight loading for the month of November 2020 crossed last year’s loading and earnings for the same period. In this period Indian Railways earned Rs 10657.66 crore from freight loading which is also Rs 449.79 crore (4 per cent) higher compare to last year’s earnings for the same period (Rs 10207.87 crore). During this period, average wagon loading per day in November 2020 is 58,726 which is 4.6 per cent higher than October, 2020 (56,128 wagons). Despite festival holidays and Cyclone Nivar affecting freight loading, Indian Railways continue to register impressive figures in freight loading in last three months (in October 15%, in September 15%) suggesting steady economic recovery. A number of concessions/ discounts are also being given in Indian Railways to make railways freight movement very attractive. It may be noted that improvements in freight movements will be institutionalized and incorporated in the upcoming zero based time table. COVID 19 has been used by Indian Railways an opportunity to improve all round efficiencies and performances.