Calling COVID-19 another setback, after GST and demonetisation, to the unorganised sector that is heavily dependent on working capital, Soham Chokshi, Founder, Shipsy, says, “With financing also becoming scarce and revenue dipping, a lot of these SME service providers would unfortunately cease to exist. The volumes would start to get channelled to the organised players that are able to sustain themselves through these challenging times financially, and thus keep providing services.”

AirBridgeCargo Airlines has moved 41 RKN containers for DSV on a scheduled flight from the Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Shanghai, China. The carrier flew the containers, which were manufactured by CSafe Global and contained more than 30 tonnes of temperature-sensitive pharma, on the lower and main decks of a Boeing 747-8 freighter aircraft. Amounting to a total of 11,000 tonnes, the airline has managed to achieve a 60 per cent uptick in temperature-sensitive pharma cargo from January to June this year. Yulia Celetaria, Global Director – Pharma, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, says, “This transportation, to some extent, is the rehearsal to check that we are prepared for the Covid-19 vaccine once its testing is finalised.”

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust registered a throughput of 344,316 TEUs in container handling, which is 19% higher as compared to June 2020. The port handled total of 196 vessels and the overall traffic handled in July was 4.85 million tonnes (MT) which is an increase of 19 per cent as against 4.07 MT handled in June 2020. Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT said, “JNPT will continue to extend support for the country’s economic growth and perform its duties to steadfast growth trajectory of the port sector. In July we have seen exports increasing and expect even the imports to get back to normal by the end of this month. There were few ups and downs but we have managed to keep the operations up and running. Also, JNPT is the first port where port-led economic development is evolving successfully and we are confident of attracting leading global companies for investing here at JNPT SEZ.“

To discuss the initiatives and benefits for Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) organised a webinar. The webinar was addressed by Anand Sherkhane, IES, Additional Development Commissioner, MSME. Stressing upon registrations under MSME UDYAM portal, S Ramakrishnan, Immediate Past Chairman, FFFAI, points, “By the turnover, custom brokers and freight forwarding industry is under MSME and there are various industry categories in UAM but not any for custom broker and freight forwarder. The custom brokers and freight forwarding industry need a separate category.” The key panellists of the session were Shankar Shinde, P.S Atree, A V Vijaykumar, Dushyant Mulani, S Ramakrishnan, Sudhir Agarwal, Alan Jose, Anand Sherkhane, Vinod Sharma, Sudip Dey has witnessed participation across the sector.

“The digitisation has stood as a critical element in maintaining business continuity, safeguarding productivity, optimising processes & resources as well as ensuring the safety of the people at operations during the current COVID-19 crisis,” says Manoj Singh, Sr. Vice President & Head – Cargo, Mumbai International Airport. The continues, “The online transactions like e-reception, e-carting order, electronic FWB/FHL transmission, e-segregation report and e-delivery order in imports has averted overcrowding at the air cargo terminal and has enabled us to maintain social distancing very effectively at the cargo terminal premises. The e-freight and digital solutions offered by Mumbai Air Cargo have additionally helped us respond rapidly to the current challenges, recover from the delays and backlogs, and bring back normalcy in cargo operations while facing severe resource crunch due to the lockdown measures.”

Volga-Dnepr Airlines has partnered with Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) to move a power turbine from the UK to Russia. The 4.5 tonnes cargo was loaded into Volga-Dnepr’s An-124 aircraft (IL-76TD-90VD) aircraft using its onboard crane system before being flown to the Midlands, UK. Ekaterina Andreeva, Commercial Director, Volga-Dnepr Airlines, says, “For over two decades Volga-Dnepr Airlines and K+N have partnered on projects which have allowed us to innovate and develop new solutions together – pushing the boundaries on what air freight can do. Starting with our An-124 and IL-76 charter flights, and then progressing to partnership on scheduled operations with AirBridgeCargo Airlines, we work under the alignment of specialty cargo transportation across the globe.

The Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has recently processed a consignment of 24,200 ornamental fish. With approvals from Indian Customs and the Bengaluru Animal Quarantine Services, the consignment was transported to Kozhikode, Kerala. The consignment, which arrived at Bengaluru Airport from Thailand through DHL Express on AeroLogic freighter, was handled by Menzies Aviation Bobba Bengaluru Cargo Terminal. The varieties included Betta Splendens (Fighting Fish) and Flower Horn Fish.

In order to help EXIM trade work more efficiently, SoftLink Global and ODeX has announced a collaboration enabling custom brokers, freight forwarders and other logistics service providers to file VGM and Form 13 seamlessly. SoftLink is the platform for freight forwarders and custom brokers and ODeX provides a digital platform for documentation and payments for EXIM Trade. Integrating ODeX’s e-VGM and e-Form 13 modules with SoftLink’s Logisys saves critical time and effort spent in entering and submitting data in multiple systems. This integration will be effective over 200+ shipping lines and NVOCC’s that accept VGM and Form 13 on ODeX.

While lockdowns and travel restrictions have starved the skies of passengers, air cargo demand; particularly for PPE has been racing ahead of capacity. Sharing how Cathay Pacific has managed to sustain in business, Rajesh Menon, Regional Head of Cargo – South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Cathay Pacific, says, “We have introduced a number of measures including the 100 per cent E-Airway bill (E-AWB) across India and also enabled a digital payment platform for all import delivery order payments. Both introductions have not only helped us go paperless but have also reduced the risk of physical interaction, thereby safeguarding the health of all our partners. The recently introduced payment platform has also been widely accepted by the agents and freight forwarders as it gives them flexibility to choose from a wide array of payment options. We have also developed two digital platforms; one for our cargo agents to make their booking and allotment process a lot faster and convenient, while the other is for our internal handling.”

Targeting the life sciences market, DHL Global Forwarding has opened a new $1.6m facility in Indianapolis in the US. The building offers bonded services and three temperature controlled chambers: 15-25 degrees celsius storage and handling, 2-8 degrees celsius storage and handling and -20 degrees celsius storage and handling. Together the temperature controlled areas measure close to 20,000 sq ft and will be able to process pharmaceutical, biotech or medical devices that require a temperature-controlled environment. “This new building is especially important now during these challenging times, when temperature controlled logistics is crucial in helping customers navigate the pandemic,” said David Goldberg, Chief Executive, DHL Global Forwarding, US.