A.P. Moller – Maersk had an exceptionally strong start to the year, with strong earnings and growth momentum across all our businesses in ocean, port services and logistics. The company benefitted from strong demand in a market still influenced by the pandemic and significant disruptions in global supply chains. “A.P. Moller – Maersk delivered an exceptionally strong performance in Q1 2021 with record profit for the quarter. The high growth and profitability were driven by solid demand across Ocean, Logistics and Terminals. Strong demand led to bottlenecks and a lack of capacity and equipment, which drove up freight rates to record-high levels,” says Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller – Maersk, before adding: “We remain focused on the long-term transformation of A.P. Moller – Maersk, prioritising customers’ demand for integrated logistics. Our integrator strategy was validated by strong customer support during Q1. As we change the conversations with customers from being short-term transactional to becoming long-term value-based, we lay the foundation for further, stable growth.”

The UPS Foundation has announced a $ 1 million commitment to fight the COVID-19 surge in India. The pledge is a combination of emergency funding, in-kind transportation movements and technical expertise to provide urgent relief, as well as strategic support. “The UPS Foundation is committed to improving the well-being of communities impacted by COVID-19 and we want to help alleviate the suffering in India by leveraging our partnerships, our resources and our logistics expertise,” said Nikki Clifton, President of Social Impact and The UPS Foundation. UPS is coordinating with strategic partners, including UNICEF, CARE, The Salvation Army, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, MAP, Medshare, Rotary Club, the US Chamber Foundation and others to mobilize critical medical supplies including oxygen concentrators, ventilators, nebulizers, respiratory supplies, PPE, COVID-19 test kits and antiviral medications to India. The UPS Foundation is also providing emergency funding to The Salvation Army and CARE. CARE is supporting the Bihar state of India’s health system, including activation of two temporary COVID-19 care centers with five intensive care centers to follow. In addition, The Salvation Army dollars will fund oxygen concentration facilities in hospitals to increase their capacity to treat the most serious cases. As another wave of COVID-19 bears down on India and hospitals struggle to maintain critical medical equipment. Jackson Carter, Director of international air freight for UPS Global Freight Forwarding, recently began running daily calls to coordinate shipments of much-needed supplies to cities across India. “Lives are on the line,” he said. “If they don’t have these supplies, this virus is going to keep spreading. Every pallet we move is another way to fight this pandemic.” The UPS Global Freight Forwarding …

In its endeavour to further its efforts towards employee and community well-being, Ecom Express is setting up of Covid vaccination camps for employees across multiple locations in India. These camps will be organized at Company’s offices and warehouses and beneficiaries will include contractual workforce covering more than 45,000 people. Speaking on the initiative, T.A. Krishnan, CEO and Co-Founder, Ecom Express says, “The health and well-being of our employees are paramount and so is that of their families and people around them. We are encouraging and educating our employees, especially the vulnerable ones for their active participation in this vaccination drive and bringing their family and community to be a part of this programme. We will extend full support to the medical bodies in the logistics and management of this drive. Our employees at these camps will also be helping citizens who cannot register themselves for the covid-vaccination with the registration process. In furtherance of our support to the cause, we have connected with hospitals and NGOs to provide logistical assistance for transportation of essential items anywhere in the country.’’

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs1,288 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The company had posted a profit of Rs334 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s March-quarter consolidated revenues from the logistics business stood at Rs.958 crore. Increased cargo volume, operational efficiencies enabled port EBITDA to grow by 15 per cnet from Rs.6,593 cr. in FY20 to Rs.7,560 crore in FY21. Logistics business has reported an EBIDTA of Rs.226 crore. In FY21, and maintained the EBIDTA margin at 24 per cent. Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of APSEZ said, “FY21 has been a transformational year for APSEZ. Some of the key decisions we took this year have set the foundation for the coming decade. Our customer centric approach has yielded good result for us as our market share increased by 4% on a pan-India basis. Mundra port which is the largest commercial port in the country, this year has also become the largest container port in the country surpassing JNPT by a big leap. We have also been able to restructure our cost fundamentally and were able to demonstrate an increase in EBIDTA margin by 1% taking our port margins to 70%. On the growth side we used this time to complete four large acquisitions i.e Krishnapattanam port, Gangavaram port, Dighi port and Sarguja Rail line, taking our total portfolio to 13 ports in the country. The total value of said investment was Rs.26,000 cr. We have also been able to take another milestone step in our international journey by foryaing into container terminal in Colombo port. With these steps we are truly in the …

OOCL Logistics is delighted to introduce PODIUM® Precision, the next-generation end-to-end supply chain technology that processes multiple real-time data sources to offer full visibility, convenient traceability and enhanced transparency on every shipment.PODIUM® Precision markedly improves collaboration and decision-making at every stage of the supply chain by leveraging intelligent data processing, automation, and performance optimization methods supported by today’s industry-leading technologies. With accurate predictive analytics capabilities, PODIUM® Precision provides new levels of insight in supply chain management and optimization which greatly contributes to the decision-making process when mitigating for any potential risks or unexpected shipment disruption events.

CargoTalk is back with its fifth conclave on May 18, 2021 at 11 am. The virtual conclave will have eminent speakers from the trade. With the focus on supply chain complexities in a never normal world, the summit will discuss the congestion issue the industry is currently facing and using real-time visibility to combat the port congestion disruptions. As this port congestion continues to cause downstream effects throughout the supply chain, industry is looking for insight into how delays will impact their shipments so they can remain agile and adjust plans as needed. Speakers will include Samit Datta, Head, Global Supply Chain, IT, Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence, Piramal Glass and Huseni Vohra, Director – Business Development, APAC, project44.

Three Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777 freighters has reached India , carrying approximately 300 tonnes of medical supplies from around the world to support COVID-19 relief efforts. The three flights departed one after the other bound for Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi as part of Qatar Airways Cargo’s WeQare initiative Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive, Qatar Airways, said, “Having seen with great sorrow the impact this further wave of COVID-19 infections has had on people in India, we knew we had to be part of the global effort to support the valiant health care workers in the country. The cargo shipment included PPE equipment, oxygen canisters and other essential medical items, and consists of donations by individuals and companies around the world in addition to existing cargo orders.”

The second wave of COVID-19 has created an acute need for medical supplies. The country today faces shortage of oxygen supply support and other COVID 19 related goods. The overstretched Covid hospital due to the second wave and the current challenge in oxygen necessitates that Covid care be done at home to the extent possible. The centre and state governments have taken various measures to augment the production of medical oxygen in the country. CBIC too has undertaken large-scale efforts to ease and expedite the import of oxygen concentrators to deal with this acute shortage of oxygen the country is faced with. Commenting on the same, RS Subramanian, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DHL Express India, says, “The need and shortage of Oxygen Concentrators in the country has led to a huge surge in import of O2 concentrators by individuals, corporates, traders and aid agencies. It is critical that these life-saving shipments get delivered at the earliest. While simplified regulations are needed to speed up the process, it is critical that shipments come with correct documentation. The decision to simplify customs process, waive duty and also reduce GST are all excellent moves to help the general public in the current crisis situation.” There is a huge surge in imports of COVID-19 related emergency products from the USA, the EU, Far East and China by individuals, corporates for their own usage, by import traders and Aid agencies. In a welcome move, CBIC has simplified the procedures through a recent notification and instruction that will enable Express and Logistic companies to speed up clearances for emergency medical equipment – and help bring pandemic spread under control. Instruction No.07/2021-Customs clearly instructs expediting …

Amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, India is dealing with an acute shortage of oxygen supply. The Mahindra Group has rolled out a free service initiative, ‘Oxygen on Wheels’ (O2W), which will strengthen the availability of oxygen by connecting oxygen producers with the hospitals and medical centres in dire need of it. O2W is launched in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chakan, Nasik and Nagpur with over 100 Mahindra vehicles ferrying oxygen, at the present. Discussions are ongoing with the civic administration and government departments to extend this free service to other cities as well, most importantly to Delhi, which is facing an acute shortage. Given the overwhelming response in the past 48 hours, extending this initiative to deliver oxygen cylinders directly to patients’ homes is also under consideration. Talking about the initiative, Anish Shah, Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra Group said, “We are committed to deploying our resources and capabilities innovatively to address the challenge on hand. Oxygen on Wheels meets an urgent need by partnering with local authorities to help save precious lives and reduce the pressure on our healthcare services.” Mahindra Group has been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19. The Group’s efforts cover a wide spectrum – from raising funds to sustain the government’s relief efforts and providing ICU beds, emergency cab services, quarantine centres, to monetary support and dry rations for the underprivileged, to re-engineering its production lines and facilities to manufacture much-needed PPE, face shields, face masks and aerosol boxes to aid the fight against coronavirus. Additionally, the Group is closely working with the Government to setting up oxygen plants and building isolation centres. M&M’s plants as well as its suppliers …

Volga-Dnepr Airlines has delivered a Luna-25 full-scale mock-up from Moscow (Russia) to Blagoveshchensk (Russia) onboard an AN-124-100 freighter. A five-tonne full-scale overall assembly of Luna-25 spacecraft designed and manufactured by NPO Lavochkin, one of the leading aerospace companies, was transported to Ignatyevo airport for further trucking to the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The mockup is intended for complex tests of technical means and systems at the cosmodrome. Ekaterina Andreeva, Commercial Director, Volga-Dnepr Airlines, says, ‘This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our effective cooperation with NPO Lavochkin. Since 1996 not only have we transported over 300 tonnes of dedicated aerospace equipment with them but have significantly expanded the scope of our services – from airfreight to document processing, airport ground handling, dangerous goods declaration, trucking transportation and other components of smart logistics.” The main task of the Luna-25 space expedition is to test soft landing technologies on the moon’s the circumpolar region and conduct contact studies of the soil in the region.