Category Archives: Shipping

To accelerate growth across Africa’s vast logistics ecosystem, Allcargo is leveraging its global expertise to undertake trans-country movement of big project cargoes in the world’s second-largest continent. Building close collaborations with partners, customers and stakeholders within Africa, the company has exuded a spirit of innovation while tackling complex projects like ODC transportation, water pipelines and power transmission lines. “Allcargo’s global aspirations are driven by its aim to create opportunities, drive partner progress, and lend its expertise to projects across geographies that transform economies and boost growth. It is this futuristic approach that has led the company to create a niche in Africa. Committing to the highest standards of safety and zero compromise on compliance, Allcargo is set to prove its mettle as a trusted logistics partner in helping Africa scale new heights of growth,” said Rahul Rai, Business Head – Projects & Engineering Division, Allcargo Logistics, on the sidelines of the 15th CII – Exim Bank Digital Conclave on India – Africa Project Partnership. With a network of 300 offices across 160 countries and a wholly-owned global subsidiary ECU Worldwide, Allcargo has a presence in most African trade hubs. The company worked on key infrastructure projects across six African countries during the Covid-induced lockdown. In Tanzania, Allcargo handled follow-ups with Government Procurement Services Agency (GPSA) for payment of shipping line charges, exemption regularisation, TAN road permits for oversized project cargo, customs clearance, loading permits, pickup and delivery of shipments for the regional Rusumo Falls hydropower project. In Burundi, Allcargo took care of follow-ups with OBR (Burundais des recettes) for exemption regularisation, clearance through single customs territory and payment of shipping line charges. The company also arranged border clearance and empty …

According to the Maersk India Trade update report, the Indian containerised trade drops by 30 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period last year. However, as economies around the world start opening, India’s exports gain momentum and show signs of a V-shaped recovery. Exports out of India were down by over 24 per cent while imports suffered a greater shock with a fall of almost 34 per cent. V shaped recovery of exports Despite the overall drop in exports from India, commodities such as plastic & rubber have been in great demand and their exports, especially to China have seen a tremendous growth, up by 70 per cent, during Q2 of 2020. The plastic industry has a huge potential with the growth of end-user industries such as packaging, textile fibre and electronics. At the same time, tyre industry is one of the rare sectors which have not seen as much contraction as the others, giving a boost to the rubber exports. Vegetable exports have also seen a rise, especially to markets in the Middle East. Vegetable exports to the UAE have more than doubled in the said period as compared to 2019. The agricultural sector is expected to grow by 3 per cent in 2020-21 while exports are expected to grow between four to six per cent with minimal impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Major contribution to the growth in agricultural produce can be attributed to increase in rice sowing which has been up by almost 20 per cent than last year. The Indian Government is focussing on transport and warehousing infrastructure in order to encourage agricultural produce and this will help in boosting …

With the aim of cutting costs and time taken to transport goods between India and the Maldives, the two countries launched a cargo ferry service connecting Tuticorin and Cochin ports with Male. The maiden voyage of the ferry service was launched during a virtual ceremony by Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping, Government of India and the Maldives’ Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Aishath Nahula. The cargo vessel MCP Linz, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), will travel from Tuticorin to Cochin and then to Kulhudhuhfushi port in the north of the Indian Ocean before making its way to Male on September 29. The service shall have a round voyage of 14 days connecting Cochin, Tuticorin and Kulhudhuhfushi Male with a container cum break bulk vessel having a capacity to carry about 200 TEUs and 3000 metric tonnes of cargo. This vessel provides direct cargo connectivity between India and the Maldives on a predictable and affordable basis for the first time, and will lower costs and times for traders in both countries. The ceremony was joined by representatives of Tuticorin and Cochin ports and officials of the Maldives Ports Limited and the foreign ministry of the Maldives.

Shipping group CMA CGM has announced the enhancement of its existing China India Express (CIX) service that connects Asia with the Indian subcontinent region. The CIX enhancement will see Xingang and Pusan being added as ports of call, making CIX a more comprehensive weekly service that links key ports in China and Korea to Colombo, Nhava Sheva and Pipavav. Via the trans-shipment hub of Hong Kong, shipments onboard CIX will be able to gain access to markets situated in Central and South China through the shipping network of CNC and the CMA CGM Group. The enhanced CIX, complemented by the existing Asia Subcontinent Express (AS1) and Asia Subcontinent Express 6 (AS6) services, forms part of CMA CGM’s portfolio of Asia-Indian subcontinent services. CIX will begin its new port rotation from Xingang on October 20 and will call at Xingang, Pusan, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Xingang.

ONE India (Ocean Network Express) became the first Carrier to launch their Electronic Delivery Order (e-DO) via Port Community System (PCS1x) by going live for Nhava Shiva India. While urging all other carriers to step forth and commence eDO release via PCS1x, Dr Janardana Rao, MD, IPA (Indian Ports Association), says, “This initiative will significantly improve efficiency while also taking Indian logistics closer to becoming a paperless regime. With the roll-out of the service, ONE India customers will be further facilitated and gain considerably; saving time and money in clearing cargo and speed up delivery order extension and the empty offload processes. Field agents of importers and customs brokers need not wait at line offices and can be utilised more productively. Indian Ports Association (IPA) launched a value-added Electronic Delivery Order (eDO) facility – on its cloud based new generation Port Community System ‘PCS1x’. Government has ensured that the facility can be availed free of charge by all stakeholders on PCS1x.

Under the Turant Customs programme, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) have announced the roll out of faceless assessment at an all India level in all ports of import and for all imported goods by October 31. The pilot programme of Faceless Assessment was launched in Chennai on August 14 and was subsequently expanded to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mundra and Visakhapatnam for goods primarily falling under Chapters 39, 84, 86 to 92, 72 to 83 and 50 to 71 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The key elements of the Turant Customs programme are faceless, contactless and paperless customs clearance processes. This includes faceless or anonymised assessment, self-registration of goods by importers, automated clearances of bills of entry, digitisation of Customs documents. The phased launch of the Turant Customs programme in select ports of import was aimed at testing in a real-life environment, the IT capabilities as well as the responsiveness of the trade and Customs officers to the various initiatives. “The results have been reviewed and these have confirmed that the stated objectives are being met. The stage is now set for extending the Turant Customs programme across all Customs ports pan India and thereby ushering in a more modern, efficient, and professional Customs administration with resultant benefits for trade and industry”, CBIC noted.

Overcoming the COVID-19 challenges, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) handled 1,643,784 TEUs and 694 vessels in the lockdown period till August 31, 2020. After facing a drop of over 35 per cent in cargo handling in the initial lockdown period, slowly the decline has come down to 16.61 per cent in August as compared to August 2019 and the Port is trying to reach its pre Covid performance levels and the numbers reaffirms that JNPT will maintain this growth trajectory. JN Port registered a throughput of 3,52,735 TEUs in container handling in Aug 2020 as against 3,44,316 TEUs handled in July 2020. The overall traffic handled at JNPT during the month of August 2020 was 4.74 million tonnes as against 5.68 million tonnes in August 2019. Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT said, “Ports are an important link in the logistic chain and JNPort has efficiently played this role during the last couple of months and after facing steep contraction, is now on the road to recovery. At JNPT, we have taken various steps to keep the Port Ecosystem functional and for smooth working of the Logistic Supply Chain during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, which has helped our cause. Also by converting JNPT Hospital as Dedicated Covid Health Care Centre, we are trying to do our best in helping the local community to come out of this crisis”.

Portall announced that Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has joined the maritime trade digitalisation platform, run by the government, Port Community System (PCS1x) to promote ease of doing business. The move comes as more ports, container freight stations (CFS) and inland container depots (ICD) move entirely to the application programming interface (API) on PCS1x that enables instant data exchange with zero loss, encompassing 17 messages which cover all the operational requirements of the port and its stakeholders. NMPT, New Mangalore Port Trust is also close to go live with API shortly. “The benefits of such real time connectivity are open to all custodians, all carriers and all ports and terminals. More and More stakeholders are approaching us for API and we have our technical partners Portall deployed on the job daily to assist and facilitate. The API Integrations have not only helped the Ports, CFS and ICDs to share and distribute data more efficiently, but also to customize data sets and enrich user experience via PCS1x.” said Dr. Janardana Rao, MD, IPA. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has also completed its API integration with Port Community System (PCS 1x) with 17 API messages which cover all the operational requirements of the port and its stakeholders. With this go-live, JNPT and PCS1x have ensured the future road map for API integration is set for other ports who are already testing with PCS 1x for API Integration. The Port handles about 200 vessels a month and has been at the forefront of tech adoption in the country. This enhancement will bring real time experience for data availability and acknowledgements in case of errors while message transmissions.

In coherence to the expansion plan of the company, APM Terminals Pipavav has announced the approval of Rs. 700 crore. The stated investment will be utilised for upgrading the port’s existing facility to handle bigger ships and eventually expand the container capacity to 1.6 million TEUs. The supply chain and the inland logistics is expected to significantly improve the reliability and reduce transit time going forward with the implementation of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). This will improve overall cargo volume for imports and exports. About 40 per cent of the total investments in entire 1,535 km of DFC is likely to be in Gujarat, which has around 37 per cent of area covered of complete stretch. Jakob Friis Sorenson, Managing Director, APM Terminals Pipavav said, “With this investment, we aim to strengthen our network and continue to provide best in-class services to all our stakeholders. However, we are awaiting the confirmation of concession extension from Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to execute the expansion plan. The container yard capacity will be expanded once the cargo growth is visible post commissioning of DFC. We expect the world economy and business to follow an expanded ‘U’ curve and normalcy in business to be restored by the second quarter of 2021.”

Karaikal Port (KPPL) South India’s fastest growing gateway ports, announced highest Average discharge rate per day of fertilizer from Supramax vessel – M.V. Murgash which was imported by Indian Potash Limited (IPL) with a shipment size of 40,000 tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MOP). The vessel completed her cargo discharge and sailed out from Port in minimal time. By efficient way of cargo handling, KPPL could achieve the best average discharge rate per day of 27000 tonnes. “Karaikal Port serves prime fertilizer companies such as IFFCO, IPL, SPIC and concentrating in handling more fertilizer consignments in future. KPPL facilitates the fertilizer companies cater to the agro market of south India and mainly supports farmers and their families in Delta region of Cauvery & Vaigai basin. The port, through its efficient operations wants to be the primary fertilizer import port of the region and ensure timely supply to the farmers. By choosing KPPL, Government will also save in subsidy by reduced transportation cost,” said K. Muralidharan, CEO of KPPL. Located along the East Coast of India with easy access to the Indian Markets, Karaikal Port’s favourable location makes it the most preferred gateway for business in Tamilnadu with a vision of being India’s Preferred & Responsible Maritime Gateway. The Port has handled over 70 million tonnes of cargo and over 2,000 commercial vessels since inception. In the next few years, KPPL is expected to add new cargo flows to increase its cargo handling capacity to 40 MMTPA by 2025.