Contienental Carriers created history by bring two frieghter charters with covid essential materials to Delhi and Kolkata with a span of two hours. Contienental carriers have been actively helping in transportation of other essential items such as oxygen concentrators from Agra to Moolchand hospital in Delhi. The company successfully chartered the two frieghters to transport 190 Euro pallets, weighing 109 tonnes of ‘Zeolite’, an essential component in Oxygen generation from the suppliers’ factory in South of Italy to Delhi. Upon arrival, Contienental Carriere seamlessly cleared the shipment within 20 minutes from the customs. In a similar way, Ilyusin IL-76 charter freighter uplifted 3 – ISO Oxygen tanks from Titanjin (China) to Kolkata, India. on the same day

FarEye, a leading end-to-end, global delivery management platform, has announced a USD 100 million Series E round led by TCV and Dragoneer Investment Group. Existing investors Eight Roads Ventures, Fundamentum and Honeywell also participated in the round. The funds will be used to accelerate the company’s mission of empowering brands to provide Amazon Prime-like delivery experiences and redefining how products are delivered across diverse logistics networks. FarEye will further focus on expanding its software platform capabilities, drive European and North American expansion, and continue to attract world-class talent. As part of the transaction, Gopi Vaddi, General Partner at TCV, will join FarEye’s board of directors.

As part of its preparations against a probable third wave of Covid-19, Delhi government has imported 6,000 oxygen cylinders from China. These cylinders will be stored at three depots and used in case of a third wave of coronavirus, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. “Around 6,000 oxygen cylinders have been airlifted from China, of which we have received 4,400. The remaining 1,600 will arrive within two to three days,” he told reporters. The chief minister thanked the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Beijing for the assistance in importing the oxygen cylinders. These can be given to people in need and can be used to create additional oxygen beds at hospitals, he said.“In case of a third wave, these cylinders can be utilised to prepare 3,000 oxygen beds. Perhaps, this is the largest such consignment brought to India since the pandemic began,” he said. He said HCL and Give India Foundation donated for this purpose.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has announced that it plans to procure a new-building Panamax bulker to transport woody biomass for energy as its main cargo, in light of stronger demand for carbon neutral biomass fuels, especially by power companies in Japan. The new vessel’s specifications are in pre-compliance with the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) phase 3, the environmental regulations that will be adopted in 2025. The specifications also call for reinforced mooring equipment and a wide-opening hatch design to boost the efficiency of cargo handling and is more suitable for the transportation of woody biomass for energy for Japanese power companies. It is slated for delivery at Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in 2023. Woody biomass for energy is a plant-derived fuel, and regarded as one that can realise a carbon neutral state, based on the concept that burning these fuels does not increase the CO2 concentration because carbon previously absorbed by trees is returned to the air.

Gati Ltd, a leading express distribution company and part of Allcargo Group, today announced it was exiting Gati Kausar India Ltd, its cold chain solutions business. Gati will sell its approximately 70% per cent stake to existing minority shareholder Mandala Capital AG Limited, a leading private equity firm focused on investments across the food value chain. The company expects the transaction to close within the next 30 days. Following the closure of this transaction, Mandala, which currently holds about 30% percent, will become the controlling shareholder in Gati Kausar. Mandala has been a shareholder in Gati Kausar since 2014. By way of this transaction, post-closure, Gati’s consolidated gross debt will come down by around Rs 100 crore. With this, Gati would have reduced its consolidated gross debt by more than 50% over the last 12 months.

Hundreds of seafarers, who were recently designated as frontline COVID warriors, are waiting for vaccination to get back to work. It is apprehended that the delay in vaccinating mariners will lead to a fall in the number of ships calling at Indian ports. The avoidance of Indian ports by foreign vessels may result in disruption of trade, including import and export of essential commodities, cautioned a communication from the Ministry of Shipping. It is estimated that there are around 46,000 seafarers in Kerala, and half of them need to be vaccinated in the first phase, the communication noted. The delay in vaccination may disrupt the supply of seafarers for crew change and their unrestricted movement. Several countries have imposed strict restrictions on ships with Indian crew or those with a history of ports of call in India. Crew change at foreign ports may also be affected due to such restrictions, the communication to the State authorities pointed out.

Chennai/Bhubaneshwar, May 24 Ports on India’s eastern coast on Sunday restricted shipping activities and asked vessels to vacate anchorages ahead of a cyclonic storm expected to make landfall on Wednesday, port authorities and trade sources said. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a”very severe cyclonic storm” would impact States including Odisha and West Bengal, where key ports are located. Some regions are likely to receive heavy rainfall and wind speeds could reach 110 miles per hour, the weather office said. Kolkata Port Trust Chairman Vinit Kumar said the port has taken preparatory measures to avoid the loss of human lives,vessels and property. “Before the onset of the cyclone, all port vessels will be taken inside dock for shelter. No ships will be kept in river anchorages or jetties,” Kumar said. Authorities at Haldia port in the state of West Bengal have asked for inward movement of vessels to be stopped from Monday evening, two trade sources said.

Cyclone Tauktae has forced the Indian port of Pipavav to shut, putting increased strain on the country’s shipping networks. Pipavav, operated by APM Terminals, said it had declared force majeure and would suspend operations until 1 June, following the cyclone making landfall last week along the coast of Gujarat in the north-west. With winds up to 185 kph, Tauktae is categorised as “extremely severe” and is one of the worst Arabian Sea-cyclones to hit India in a decade. Pipavav said there had been no major damage to port infrastructure, but its power supply and communication links had been “disrupted”. Its closure prompted forwarders to signal further cargo disruption, with containerships being diverted from the 1.35m teu capacity facility. Sanjay Bhatia, co-founder and CEO of Freightwalla, said: “Vessels will now have to re-route or, most likely, discharge containers at other ports like Nhava Sheva [Mumbai]. This is expected to have a cascading effect on the shipping lines, importers and exporters.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport) has processed 650,225 kgs (542,620 kgs of imports and 107,605 kgs of domestic inbound) of COVID-19-related relief material from April 1, 2021 to May 19, 2021. Of the total, a significant 567,791 kgs were processed from May 1 to 19, 2021, with imports at 507,820 kgs and domestic inbound cargo at 59,971 kgs. While 200 shipments came in April, the first 20 days of May accounted for nearly 800 shipments, accounting for an overall 25,891 pieces of COVID-19-related cargo. During this period, BLR Airport recorded a total of 136 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs), including 101 international ATMs and 35 domestic ATMs, carrying COVID-19-related cargo. This included 21different carriers (7 Indian and 14 international carriers). Wuhan and Singapore are the top importing origins. Oxygen concentrators, ventilators and Zeolite were the major import commodities, while COVID-19 vaccines and PPEs were the top domestic inbound cargo.

With acute shortage of Medical Oxygen in the hospitals, Continental Carriers Pvt. Ltd. decided to work as a support system to the Moolchand hospital, Delhi, in ferrying Oedical oxygen from Agra to Delhi. This is being done on daily basis since May 2021.t This logistic supply is available free of cost to the hospital as a gesture of giving back to the society in these hard times. The Continental Carriers feels humble in providing the service to the hospital and to the people in need. The country has been passing through one of the worst phase, the pandemic especially the second surge has posed, creating a havoc in the lives of many.