Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (ESCAP) is conducting a research study to offer policy recommendations for gender equality and women’s empowerment in the maritime sector, taking into consideration regional and national contexts in Asia and the Pacific. As part of this work, a dedicated research team led by Sanjam Sahi Gupta, an International Consultant, Founder, Maritime SheEO, and Ex-President WISTA (India) will work with countries in the region to assess their current activities, identify key opportunities, and challenges, and ultimately support the design of a road map towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. The outcomes of this effort will help the Member States build gender policy in the maritime sector by facilitating regional exchanges of best practices and lessons learned.

Industry veteran Keku Bomi Gazder, former CEO of AAI Cargo Logistics & Allied Services was honoured with prestigious ‘Industry Ambassador of the Year’ award at the recently held India Cargo Awards, India’s topmost Supply chain awards, which helps to create a platform to recognise those behind the success of the cargo and logistics industry. Gazder said, “I would like to thank India Cargo Awards for organising this event after a gap of two years and for honouring me. It is always a pleasure to be recognised at such forums and it always feels wonderful to meet the industry stakeholders in person than virtual meetings.”

Alpine Air Express, which provides air cargo services to smaller communities in the western U.S. for customers such as FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service has acquired Omaha, Nebraska-based Suburban Air Freight to support growing demand for e-commerce services. The deal positions Alpine Air Express, one of the largest regional air cargo carriers in the U.S., to begin flying for DHL Express and build on its expansion effort. Alpine Air operates a fleet of 50 turboprop aircraft — 35 twin-engine Beechcraft 1900D, 14 smaller Beechcraft 99 and a King Air 200 — that transport mail packages and other time-sensitive cargo in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, California, and Utah.

With the global supply chain operations steadily gaining momentum in the past couple of years, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s (CSMIA) air cargo witnessed a fruitful year in terms of EXIM (export and import) movements in FY22. With a total of 5,56,900 Metric Tonnes (MT) of overall cargo facilitated in FY22, CSMIA’s air cargo observed a rise of close to 30% in movement as compared to FY21. Where international cargo volumes grew by 26% whereas domestic cargo volumes were up by 40% over FY 21. The total import of 260,600 MT and export of 296,300 MT of cargo resulted in CSMIA’s overall share of contribution to the global cargo movements.

The Kerala Maritime Board (KMB), the nodal agency for all maritime-related activities in Kerala, is pulling out all stops to woo investment for the development of port infrastructure in the State which has a 590-km long coastline with 17 minor and intermediate ports. The State has the scope for developing coastal shipping as an alternative in order to divert goods traffic from congested roads. N.S. Pillai, who took over as chairman of the KMB, said the board will be taking a slew of measures to develop coastal shipping. “Crew exchange will soon be a reality in the Kollam port as the work on setting up six Immigration Check Points (ICP) is expected to be completed in two weeks. Once the furnishing works are completed, the board will request the Customs to deploy the staff required for facilitating immigration activities,” said Pillai.

DHL Express last week launched an air freight route connecting Shenzhen in the Guangdong province of southern China with Leipzig in Germany. With a weekly freight capacity of more than 500 metric tonnes, cargo airline Aero-Logic will be responsible for services in the route, with six weekly round trips made by a Boeing 777 all-cargo aircraft, DHL Express said. The new route can better meet the strong aviation logistics market demand in Shenzhen and its surrounding areas, and further promote economic and trade ties between South China and Europe, Shenzhen Baoan International Airport was quoted as saying by official Chinese media. The company had launched an international air cargo route linking Shenzhen and Los Angeles in October last year. It operates more than 30 international air cargo routes from the Shenzhen gateway.

V-Trans (India) Ltd, a preferred single window logistics solution provider won the “Best Integrated Logistics Service Provider” award by India Cargo Awards, India’s topmost Supply chain awards, which helps to create a platform to recognise those behind the success of the cargo and logistics industry on 30th March 2022. Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans (India) Ltd received the award from Amrit Lal Meena, IAS, Special Secretary (Logistics) – Dept. of Commerce, Gov. of India at Crowne Plaza, New Delhi. V-Trans (India) is a champion of Surface Transport Pan India & in SAARC, V-Xpress is the expert in Door to Door, multimodal express cargo movement and V-Logis provides comprehensive warehousing and end to end integrated logistics.

Greenbase Industrial & Logistics Park, which is a joint venture between Niranjan Hiranandani Group and Blackstone Group said it has inked a lease deal with Jost India, a manufacturer of components for commercial vehicles and agricultural equipment. The 2 lakh sq ft lease deal is for 10 years at the mixed-use township Hiranandani Parks in Chennai. The facility is expected to be delivered and be operational by 2022-end. Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder, Hiranandani Group and Chairman of Greenbase Industrial & Logistics Park said, “With the signing of this deal, our total delivered portfolio stands at 1.5 million sq ft at Greenbase Chennai. We are committed to invest over ₹3000 crore to develop industrial and logistics parks across key cities in India.

dnata has inaugurated a new, state-of-the-art cargo centre at London Heathrow airport (LHR). Part of the company’s ‘dnata City East’ complex, the bespoke facility further increases dnata’s capacity at LHR, ensuring continued smooth handling of a broad range of goods amid rapidly increasing demand for reliable and safe air cargo services in the UK. The ground services provider’s expansion makes dnata City East comfortably the largest off-site cargo handling operation at the UK’s largest commercial aviation hub. The new, 10,500 sq mt facility (‘Phase II’) was designed to operate in conjunction with dnata City East’s existing 22,500 sq mt facility (‘Phase I’) which opened in September 2019.

Kale Logistics Solutions won the Best IT Solution Provider award at the recently held India Cargo Awards 2022. Kale received the award for its services to the sector, and for demonstrating how technology can be a game changer for the logistics industry. By leveraging next-generation technology, Kale has designed differentiated digital interventions to offer a host of business possibilities to the industry during the pandemic. “This recognition reflects our vision and strategy, investments in innovation, customer-centric approach, and comprehensive portfolio of products and services,” said Vineet Malhotra, Co-Founder & Director, Kale Logistics Solutions.