Category Archives: Shipping

Maersk has commenced its first inland containerised cargo movement in India through the country’s first multimodal terminal on River Ganga (National Waterway-1), from Varanasi to Kolkata. The shipping line deployed 16 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) on MV Rabindranath Tagore that will be plying from the Varanasi terminal to RR Jetty in Kolkata, covering a distance of 1390 km. Steve Felder, Managing Director – South Asia, Maersk, says, “We truly believe that India’s trade growth is hidden in our hinterlands. As the global integrator of container logistics, we are focused on providing efficient supply chain solutions for our customers, and efficiently linking Indian importers and exporters in hinterland locations with markets around the world. The initiative will help facilitate the cargo movement from the hinterland to directly move to and from Bangladesh and the rest of the world through the Bay of Bengal.”

CONCOR and RZD Logistics (RZDL), a Russian Railways company, have agreed to jointly develop multimodal logistics services along INSTC (International North South Transport Corridor) route. The MoU signed between the two purports to explore opportunities in developing joint logistical projects both in India and in Russia, using international transport corridors, to include the International North South Transport Corridor. With the signing of MoU, both companies intend to set up joint enhancement of Indian-Russian logistical cooperation, develop prospective projects related to container transhipment between the countries, design new top-quality logistical services, and aim at further efficiency improvement of the INSTC route.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) successfully carried out loading of a heavy lift export project cargo. This equipment consisted of sub-assemblies of barge loading machine for mine development and export facilities for Guinea, Africa. The loading was completed successfully in 36 hours. The consignment of 1115 MT had 132 packages of which the single heaviest piece (Main Boom-Shuttle boom assembly) had length of 62 metres and weighed 384 tons. This whole exercise also showed the support from JNPT towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative. This consignment was part of an international EPC contract of Shapoorji Pallonji & Company, and JM Baxi was the vessel agent.

As per the latest Lloyds Report, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is the only Indian Container Port to be listed amongst the top 30 Container Ports globally. JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking. The good news of rising in the global ranking was shared by the Chairman at the quarterly interactive meeting with all stakeholders, organised at JNPT recently. This was the first stakeholder interactive meeting of the year 2019 and was attended by officials and representatives of Terminal Operators, CFSAI, CSLA, MANSA, INSA, AMTOI, Customs and various Shipping Lines. Another point of adulation at the meeting was, JNPT crossing the 5 million TEUs handling milestone, in 2018.

The maiden coastal voyage of a vessel of Container Corporation of India (Concor) was flagged off by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways and Coal from Kandla through video link from Delhi on January 10, 2019. The vessel SSL Mumbai is sailing from Kandla Port to Tuticorin via Mangalore and Cochin. This is a unique example of multi-modal logistics solution through integrated rail and coastal movement. With this CONCOR will start coastal movement of containers as a weekly service on this route, moving about 1400 containers. Gadkari expressed confidence that this modal shift in the logistics chain was an important beginning that would help to bring down logistics costs and make Indian goods more competitive in the global markets in the very near future.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) organised a port study-tour for the largest global congregation ever to visit any port in India. The congregation included 38 government officials from 36 countries, who are part of the Global Strategic Growth Leadership & Sustainable Development program initiated by ITEC with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Neeraj Bansal, Chairman-in-Charge, JNPT, said, “India is a significant contributor to the global container cargo business and JNPT has been the driving force behind this growth, accounting for around 53 per cent of the total containerised cargo volume, across the major ports of India. We are delighted to have government officials from so many countries coming together, here, to understand our role in the global perspective. Such collaborative efforts help in promotion of trade between India and the rest of the world which will give a fillip to Indian economy.” The delegates represented host of nations like, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, Iraq, Srilanka, Nigeria, Colombia, South Africa, Egypt, Guinea, Peru, Kenya and Vietnam.

JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) has organised a five-day seminar on ‘Engineering & Procurement’ as part of its industry skill development initiative. Commenting on the programme, Neeraj Bansal, IRS, Chairman-in-Charge, JNPT, said, “We started the JNPT APEC Training Centre with an aim to provide timely skill and knowledge upgrade to port professionals so they would be abreast with the latest trends in the industry. This will thus enhance the overall efficiency and quality of the port services across India and Asia.” The seminar will focus on all engineering aspects related to the port and an in-depth understanding into workings of procurement and their importance in port strategy.

India’s containerised trade with the world has grown 10 per cent year-on-year according to the Q3 trade report released by Maersk. Increasing competitiveness of Indian exports, coupled with improved demand in various destination countries, has propelled exports to grow at 10 per cent year-on-year. The demand for India-made goods such as vehicles and mechanical appliances, as well as refrigerated cargo such as onions, meat, seafood, and pharmaceuticals have driven exports. Simultaneously, imports have risen nine per cent year-on-year, largely dominated by a heavy inflow of paper, metal, and white goods. Overall, the containerised market has displayed strength, with far less fluctuation compared to the previous year. Steve Felder, Managing Director for Maersk Line – South Asia, said, “The upward movement in global commodity prices, depreciation of the Indian rupee, and recent shipping-logistics reforms such as liberalised cabotage policy and Direct Port Delivery are instrumental in supporting the export-import trade between India and global markets.”

Allcargo Logistics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JNPT and CIDCO, wherein Allcargo will set up the operations, maintenance and management of a skill development centre in Bokadveera, Uran near JNPT. Youth from the underprivileged sections of the society will be provided skill-based training at the centre to boost their employability opportunities in the domestic port and maritime logistics sector. Conceptualised as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK), a flagship scheme of the Union Government’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the skill development centres will offer industry-centric training and job skilling initiatives to needy youth across diverse industry verticals like logistics. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is supporting skilling in Sagarmala through its stakeholders including National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), and the flagship scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK).

APM Terminals Pipavav is now connected to ICD Kanpur via train. The new connection has been established by CONCOR. It gives customers an opportunity to connect to the gateway port of Pipavav. The maiden export train that started from ICD Kanpur (JRY) to Port Pipavav in November has been aptly named POLYMER Express, as it was carrying 90 TEUs of polymer for GAIL. The export-loaded train was flagged off by CN Mishra, Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Santosh Kumar Singh, Terminal Manager, ICD Kanpur, on November 13, 2018.