Category Archives: International

DHL Express is launching a new airline in Europe and focusing its UK carrier on international operations through the addition of B777Fs. The express giant plans to launch a new cargo airline based in Austria and is in the process of filing applications with the Austrian authorities. The Austrian airline, which DHL hopes to launch later this year, will operate using Boeing 757 freighter aircraft transferred over from its DHL Air UK business. DHL said the move comes in response to growing e-commerce demand, with first quarter 2021 Time Definite International shipments (TDI) increasing by more than 25% compared with a year earlier. “To respond to this growth and to continue offering its customers fastest transit times for their cross-border deliveries, DHL Express is remodeling its East Midlands based airline, DHL Air UK,” the company explained in a press release. Tom Mackle, managing director at DHL Air UK, said: “The UK has always been a crucial gateway to the world. With an increasing demand in international time definite deliveries this is today more valid than ever.”

For European exporters looking to source shipping containers, existing shortages could deteriorate significantly in the coming weeks, according to the latest data from Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers. Most pricing and availability indicators now suggest carriers are continuing to favour shipping empties back to Asia as fast as possible to maximise yields on front-haul services rather than wait for less lucrative backhaul loads. “The confluence of theoretical high availability and soaring prices for boxes strongly indicates that container lines are prioritizing empty containers over export cargo from Europe,” said Dr Johannes Schlingmeier.

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has recommended doubling the number of private inland container depots (ICDs) to facilitate the delivery of imported goods from the off-docks and make doing business easy. It urged the stakeholders concerned to invest more in setting up of the private ICDs in the Chittagong port as 20-25 more ICDs are needed to keep the export-import activities uninterrupted. In a recent meeting, stakeholders like exporters, importers, customs officials and representatives from Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) also agreed with the CPA’s proposal to mitigate congestion in the port. They also urged the port authorities and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to facilitate the investors, who are willing to set up new ICDs, through providing speedy service.

DP World has enhanced its European inland network, adding three ports in the Alsace region through its affiliate company, Swissterminal. Earlier this month, the public authority Syndicat Mixte des Ports du Sud Alsace (SMO) awarded the concession contract of the Ports of Mulhouse-Rhin to the public-private company composed of the SMO, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Alsaceteam, which is a joint venture of Swissterminal and the two French seaports Grand Port Maritime de Marseille and Haropa Port du Havre. The operation of the three French inland ports is granted through a sub-delegation contract to Alsaceterminal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Swissterminal, according to a statement, which will take over Ottmarsheim, Huningue-Village-Neuf and Ile Napoléon ports in the course of 2021.

AP Moller Maersk said its integrator strategy that will see the company transform into a comprehensive, customer-facing door-to-door logistics service will offer the carrier significantly improved profits. Speaking at Maersk’s Capital Markets Day Maersk CEO Søren Skou told analysts and investors that the company is ready to build three divisions with strong synergies between them, with a customer focus, that will drive value creation through digitalisation. “Today, we are rapidly transforming our A.P. Moller – Maersk in line with our strategy. We have come far, but we are not yet done. We continue to see a significant opportunity in the market for global end-to-end logistics and are confident that we can continue to deliver value generating returns above 7.5%, ROIC, considering the extraordinary earning levels of 2021 an average of above 12% for the five year period 2021-2025,” said Skou.

Cathay Pacific’s cargo capacity was only gradually recovering in April after the relaxation of stricter crew quarantine rules in the middle of the month. The Hong Kong-based airline in April saw its cargo capacity in cargo tonne km terms drop by 36.6% compared with February levels as a result of stricter quarantine measures being introduced. These rules were relaxed in mid-April for vaccinated crew, but capacity only gradually came back online. The April figure was was also higher than the 25% drop off in capacity recorded by the carrier in March. Cathay Pacific group chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam explained: “While we welcomed the easing of quarantine restrictions for cargo aircrew in Hong Kong in mid-April, the positive impact of the relaxation was not immediately realised due to crew rostering lead time and our overall capacity last month remained significantly affected.” “The number of freighter and cargo-only passenger flights that we operated was lower than at any point since the Covid-19 pandemic began, limiting our ability to provide more lift to what was a reasonably buoyant cargo market, particularly on long-haul routings. This reduction in capacity together with the firm market led to a high load factor of 83%.”

The Lufthansa Cargo freighter with the registration D-ALFG took off for the first time with a very special design: the lettering “Flying 100% CO2 neutral powered by DB Schenker” and an illustration of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) highlight the joint mission of Lufthansa Cargo and DB Schenker. Both companies have been working together on climate protection for ten years and have now been able to launch a concrete offer on the market. “We are delighted to have DB Schenker at our side, a partner who is so energetically promoting the reduction of CO2 in the air freight industry. The special livery gives us the opportunity to draw attention to our joint commitment worldwide. It also shows that we take our support of the United Nations’ ‘Climate Action’ Goal very seriously. The increased use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and a modern freighter fleet are measures with a great impact to sustainably reduce our CO2 emissions,” explains Ashwin Bhat, Lufthansa Cargo Chief Commercial Officer.

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.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope reached out to Allcargo chairman Shashi Kiran Shetty to help procure masks for urgent distribution across the interiors of the state. To meet the state’s demand, Allcargo has already transported 2 million masks from Singapore. Another 1 million to be brought in from the USA, China, and other countries. Following the logistics industry initiative led by Mr. Shetty in April when Allcargo flew in 500 oxygen concentrators, Bluewater Lines provided for the containers this time. Allcargo Logistics Limited, part of The Avvashya Group, is a global leader in integrated logistics solutions. The Company offers specialized logistics services across Multimodal Transport Operations, Container Freight Station Operations/Inland Container Depot Operations and Project & Engineering Solutions and Logistics Park. Benchmarked quality standards, standardized processes, and operation excellence across all the services and facilities, have enabled Allcargo Logistics Limited to emerge as the market leader in all these segments.

IATA is predicting a positive outlook for air cargo demand and believes it will continue to improve as the vaccine rollout progresses and bellyhold services pick up. In a press conference, Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, said airlines “deserve great credit” for pivoting their business focus away from passenger operations and towards airfreight in a short period of time. Noting the use of preighters, Walsh said: “Airlines demonstrated great agility in responding to demand to ensure that there was sufficient supply to meet critical supply chain issues during the pandemic.” He added that as passenger services pick up while the global vaccine rollout progresses, airlines will “shift from survival mode to rebuilding”. “As that happens, we’ll continue to be very focused on the environmental issues that have not in any way bated since we’ve gone through this crisis,” he said. “There is also an immediate focus on the development of sustainable aviation fuels.”