With the advent of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has facilitated the transportation of over 387 tonnes of COVID relief supplies. Since the first shipment which arrived on April 26, CSMIA has registered the arrival of approximately 110 flights originating from 20 destinations across the globe. The airport has been prioritizing the shipments of essential medical supplies and achieved an overall processing time of 15 minutes, including offloading and storage. CSMIA facilitated the arrival of over 17,700 Oxygen concentrators, 3,19,800 vials of Remdesivir injections and 1,13,900 vials of Tocilizumab injections approximately in the period between April 26 – May 14 to cater to the increase in demand of these goods for the treatment of patients in India.

COV-AID@BLR, a 150-bed oxygenated COVID-19 treatment centre at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport), has been operationalised. The facility was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa on May 19, 2021 during his visit to the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport). Located near the Cargo Terminals of BLR Airport, COV-AID@BLR is open for the public and employees from the BLR Airport ecosystem The facility is designed to treat patients who are asymptomatic, with mild hypoxia (a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level). It is designed to be a transit oxygen delivery centre, which would provide much-needed relief and treatment for patients requiring oxygen support until they are able to get admission in a hospital. This facility is not equipped to treat pregnant women or moderate cases and those requiring high flow oxygen support / ICU beds.

Talking about the important role played by the supply chain industry during the pandemic, Huseni Vohra, Director, Buisness Development, APAC, project 44, said, “During the lockdown scenario, like many other essential services, the supply chain never stopped. From delivering the medical supplies to food essentials and others, the supply chin industry faced many challenges not only due to the pandemic but also from within such as the capacity issues, the demand-supply equations which were dynamic to name a few. My wish would be to equip supply chain with much more intelligence and create a support system that helps in faster decision making.”

Emphasising on technology as the need of the hour to be in competition, Samit Datta, Head, Global Supply Chain, IT, Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence, piramal Glass Ltd. said, “Today technology has taken a front seat unlike earlier where it was considered a cost. Tracking the data is the most important thing today in the supply chain management. With the pandemic, technology has been at the bottom of the change and played a significant role. Going forward, it is upto us how we use the data to be more reliable and faster than others. In short, the real differentiator will be data and technology.”

Talking about the new order world has been thrown into due to the pandemic, V.Raju, Senior Vice President, CL – Chemical, Pharma & Food Sector, Awashya a CCI 3PL Logistic Company said,”Due to various uncertainities created due to the pandemic, thinking has changed from ‘Globalisation’ to ‘Regionalisation’. We need to work in an enviornment which is close-by, thereby cutting transportation and travelling time. The supply chain managements needs to be more positive and more alert in the changing realms of the world today. They also need to make quick decisions and at times heavy investments to keep the production going on.” He further added, “The importance of regional supply chain is here to stay for a few years now till the system reassembles meaning, factories start working, global supplies are back to normal. Till such time, we need to depend on the regional supplies of the regional supply chain management.”

When the nation is reeling under the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Maritime has contributed by carrying shipments of Medical Oxygen from Kuwait to Nhava Sheva. The shipments of 6×20’ (Gr weight 55 MT) were loaded from Shuaiba Port on 5th May 2021 on MV Capt Kattleman and were transhipped at Jebel Ali for further on-carriage to Nhava Sheva on 10th May 2021. The second carrier being Nagoya Tower that berthed at APMT Nhava Sheva on 15th May 21. Prime Maritime acknowledged the support given by Global Feeders in handling these time-sensitive shipments most efficiently. The containers were destuffed and cargo delivered onto the trucks waiting to transport them to medical facilities as per Red Cross directives. The aid cargo was provided by Kuwait Govt through the Public Authority of Industry and delivered to the Indian Red Cross Society.

Spoton Logistics, India’s premier technology, and engineering-driven logistics company have been successfully delivering FDA-approved oxygen concentrators since April 2021. The company stepped forward to enable seamless delivery of one of the most critical medical equipment needed by COVID patients all across India. Despite being time-critical, the delivery of oxygen concentrators is affected by multiple links in the supply chain defining its availability across different cities and regions in the country. Spoton Logistics is thus focusing on providing real-time visibility into the shipment of oxygen concentrators, also alerting the consumer in advance in case there is an unavoidable delay. Commenting on the development, Uday Sharma, COO, Spoton Logistics, stated, “To ensure that the demand of oxygen concentrators is effectively met, seamless and well-managed logistics is the key. We need to keenly keep an eye on the mobilization process of such critical equipment which can not only help the affected people but the government too in amplifying the healthcare infrastructure. As a leading player in the industry, Spoton has been proactive in making sure that there is optimum transparency maintained in the delivery process so that the customers can track their shipments in real-time. ”

.Cargo Talk in it’s conclave discussed at length the complexities involving the supply-chain sector. Various issues were addressed such as port congestion, enabling latest technologies to overcome the hurdles in the supply-chain. Renowned panelists of the field brainstormed over the difficulties and finding solutions to it. The panelists included, Samit Datta, Head, Global Supply Chain, IT, Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence, Piramal Glass Ltd., V.Raju, Senior Vice President- CL- Chemical, Pharma & Food Sector, AwashyaCCI 3PL Logistics Company and Huseni Vohra, Director, Business Development, APAC, project 44.

NICDC Logistics Data Services (NLDS), a joint venture between the Government of India, represented by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust, and NEC Corporation, a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies, today announced extension of its Logistics Data Bank (LDB) services at 9 major Special Economic Zones (SEZ) across India to improve last mile container visibility. Major SEZs include Visakhapatnam, SEEPZ Mumbai, Surat, MEPZ Chennai, Cochin, Kandla, Noida, Mangalore and Dahez SEZ. Commenting on the occasion, Ichiro Oshima, CEO, NLDS said, “The need for more accurate end-to-end container visibility was apparent when exporters and importers experienced significant delays in container movement. With end-to-end container tracking, users can now easily identify the bottlenecks and ease their operations. Last mile container visibility stands in-line with NLDS’ objective of improving the export and import (EXIM) trade and reducing the logistics cost.”

On 14.05.2021, V.O. Chidambaranar Port created a new record for handling a coal vessel with highest parcel size. The Panama flagged vessel ‘MV BASTIONS’ arrived from the Port of Muara Berau, Indonesia, with 92,935 Tonnes of Coal consigned for Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd., bettering the previous handling of highest parcel size for vessel ‘MV Star Sirius’, with 92,028 Tonnes of Coal handled at the Port on 11.04.2021. The import of coal through VOC Port has also shown upward trend during this financial year 2020-21. The Port has handled 11.81 Lakhs Tonnes of Coal, as against 11.05 Lakhs Tonnes handled during 2019-20, registering a growth of 6.88%. “Despite subdued global trade, contraction in domestic Industrial activity due to lockdown, it is important that Ports operate as efficiently as possible to cleanse off the negative economic impact of the Pandemic. Cargo handling through VOC Port has started to pick up pace and the Port has seen traffic growth of 42% in April 2021, when compared to the cargo traffic handled in April 2020. On the occasion of achievement of this significant milestone, I would like to recognize the hard work and commitment of Ship Agents, Stevedores, Harbour Mobile Crane Operator, Officers and Staff of V.O. Chidambaranar Port.” said T.K. Ramachandran, IAS, Chairman, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust.