Category Archives: Shipping

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.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), formerly known as Kolkata Port Trust, is monitoring the situation in view of the forecast of a very severe cyclonic storm, Yaas, and taking preparatory measures to avoid loss of human lives, vessels, and other properties, an official said on Saturday. The port authorities asked officials to ensure that all its vessels are taken inside the dock before the onset of the cyclonic storm, and no ships will be kept at river jetties, SMP Chairman Vinit Kumar said. Control rooms at Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock Complex have been set up, he said. “We are continuously monitoring the situation and will stop our operations at the right time. Control rooms at KDS and HDC have been manned by senior officers since May 21. Tugboats and launches will be available for any emergency,” Kumar said. A low pressure area formed over east central Bay of Bengal on Saturday, which is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and move towards West Bengal, adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around May 26 morning, the regional Met Department said.

A lobby group of India private terminal operators have sought the government’s policy intervention for permitting single cargo handling terminals to handle multi commodities at major ports. Some of the public-private-partnership (PPP) concessions at major ports allow the operators to handle only one commodity such as coal, iron ore etc. The PPP projects are structured whereby the traffic risk is borne by the concessionaire, whereas the concessioning authority secures revenue through minimum guaranteed cargo mechanism. “Of late, there have been significant market disruptions hampering the functioning of these terminals. It is difficult to manage risk due to court orders banning the import/export of cargo, government policies discouraging imports and significant disruptions in market conditions,” the Indian Private Ports and Terminals Association (IPPTA) wrote in a May 9 letter to the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.

The Narendra Modi government’s ambitious plan for a transshipment terminal and other infrastructure projects on the Great Nicobar Island, piloted by the NITI Aayog, has cleared the first major hurdle in its way. After a series of meetings in March and April, the 15-member Environment Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has “recommended the proposal for grant of Terms of Reference.” The plan proposes the construction of a transshipment terminal, a greenfield international airport, township and area development and a 450 megavolt amperes gas and solar based power plant on Great Nicobar, the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands, and India’s southernmost territory. Transshipment involves offloading cargo from one ship and loading it onto another vessel to be carried to the final port of discharge.

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.

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.