PM Modi hopes to roll out GST in 2016, woos investors in Singapore Times of India Promising more reforms to make India more attractive for foreign investments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured investors that he would "carefully hold" their hands and expressed hope that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would be rolled out in 2016. Speaking at the India Singapore Economic Convention here, Modi said India is exploring a potential partnership with Singapore's Changi Airport for developments of two Indian airports and invited companies here to join in building smart cities. "In the last 18 months, the runways for the take-off of the economy have been made. Reforms are happening in a big way. They are now reaching to the last mile. Reform is to transform the system so that they perform. They aim at helping people realize their dreams. "It means more charm on the faces and less forms in the offices. Efforts to deepen financial markets have been made," Modi said.

Suggestions invited on Port Authority Bill The Hindu The Union Ministry of Shipping has invited suggestions from all stakeholders on the draft Major Port Authorities Bill 2015 and the draft has been uploaded on the ministry website with a request to stakeholders to send in their views by the first week of December. When the Bill becomes an Act, it will be applicable to the ports of Chennai, Cochin, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Paradip, VO Chidambaranar, Vishakapatnam and Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Though many of the provisions in the Major Port Trusts Act 1963 will remain intact, the core of the changes being mooted by the new legislation is the corporatisation of these ports’ operations. Part III of draft, which deals with the management restructuring of port authority, is on “conversion of Port Authority from trust to company.” The draft says: “the Port Authority of each Major Port operating as a trust may change its structure and become a company subject to prior approval of the Central government and passing of special resolution through its Board in that behalf”.

India releases new guidelines on dredging contract selection JOC India’s Ministry of Shipping has updated its guidelines for awarding capital and maintenance dredging contracts at major state-owned ports. The revamp is another initiative by the Narendra Modi-led government to improve port productivity levels under its much-publicized “sagar mala” project and favors dredging firms based in India. In a document titled “Guidelines on Undertaking Dredging at Major Ports,” the ministry said that the need for more ports and the improvement of India’s maritime infrastructure necessitated new guidelines for dredging works. Under the new guidelines, all dredging contracts at federal government-owned, landlord ports will be awarded through a competitive bidding process. For capital dredging contracts, the government reserves the right to appoint state-owned Dredging Corporation of India on a nomination basis without calling for bids. Most notably, the ministry has called on port trust bodies to go in for “long-term” contracts of up to five years for maintenance dredging in order to get work done faster.

Cargo Export Takes a Dip in Past Two Weeks New Indian Express Nearly 10 per cent of export cargo was hit due to the heavy rains that lashed the city for the last two weeks, according to a top official of National Association of Container Freight Station. Speaking to Express, M S Arun, Chairman of the Association said cargo arrival to the port had taken a dip. “The cargoes are mostly minerals and stones from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh,” he added. Officials conceded that the rains had slowed down the port operations. A Chennai Port official said container movement in the Port has come down. “Usually, a total of 2,300 containers arrive at Chennai Port but now the number has come down to 1,800,” he noted adding that this, however, could not be linked to the volume of business. Operations have slowed down for during the rains as machineries and steel would not be allowed on board as these could rust, it was explained. In his view, it was too early to estimate the losses.

Centre developing Mandovi, Zuari by keeping Goa in the dark Navhind Times Even as the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has floated tenders for consultancy services to develop stretches of Mandovi and Zuari rivers and the Cumbharjua canal, the state government authorities have been kept in the dark on the matter. Sources in the state government said that Goa has not been intimated on anything regarding the bidding process for the consultancy services and nothing has been communicated with the state authorities regarding development of the river stretches. The tender floated by IWAI states, “E-tender for consultancy services for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) Studies and Obtaining Environment, CRZ, Wildlife and Forest Clearances for developing the stretch of Mandovi, Zuari and Cumbharjua canal of national waterways in the state of Goa.”

CMA CGM offers direct links between La Reunion Island, Europe and Australia A Jot CMA CGM, a leading worldwide shipping Group, is pleased to announce its service upgrade to La Reunion Island on its NEMO line. The NEMO service offers a direct connection between Northern Europe, Southern Europe, India, Singapore, and Australia. Commencing December 11th, 3 new calls will be added: Pointe des Galets port in la Reunion Island, Fos in France, and Salerno in Italy. The new rotation will be as follows: Tilbury, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Fos, Genova, Damietta, Pointe des Galets, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Singapore, Port Kelang, Chennai, Colombo, Cochin, Damietta, Malta, and Salerno. CMA CGM will operate 7 out of the 13 4,200 TEU capacity vessels - the rest being operated by Hapag-Lloyd. The CMA CGM Group pursues its development strategy in la Reunion Island by offering a direct connection between the major North European ports – such as Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Tilbury – and West Mediterranean ports – Genova, Fos, Malta.

ClassNK releases draft amendments to container ship rules Seatrade Maritime Two and a half years after the MOL Comfort split in half, burst into flames and sank, ClassNK has released its draft amendments to its containership structural requirements. The new requirements are scheduled to apply to container ships contracted for construction on or after 1 April 2016. The amendments are based on the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Unified Requirements S11A (‘Longitudinal strength standard for container ships’) and S34 (‘Functional requirements on load cases for strength assessment of container ships by finite element analysis’) as well as reports from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and ClassNK’s own report released in September 2014. “The development and implementation of more comprehensive rules demonstrates ClassNK’s commitment to building even safer ships,” said ClassNK. “The amendments will come into effect after receiving approval from ClassNK’s board of directors.

Charter ship market still looking for the bottom JOC Charter rates for container ships have fallen completely out of sync as owners in the most hard-pressed segments scramble to secure any short-term cover they can get. More evidence emerged last week of post-Panamax and Panamax tramp vessels fixing charters at sub-opex levels of $6,000 to 8,000 per day — less than what feeder and Handy container ship types can still achieve in various regions. The largest classes are suffering the worst overhang of tonnage looking for employment. French analyst Alphaliner counted 36 mover-Panamax ships of 5,300 to 7,500 twenty-foot-equivalent units and 27 Panamaxes of 4,000 to 5,100 TEUs in spot positions at the start of last week, most of them in Asia. New charter rate lows for very large container ships were marked by the reported fixture of the 8,411-TEU Northern Jubilee at just $8,000 per day for 2 to 3 months Far East-west coast South America trading, and by Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk’s hiring of the 7,000-TEU Northern Monument at $7,500 per day for 50 to 100 days for its Far East-Mediterranean service.

Exports may fall below $300 bn by 2015-16 end Business Standard India will miss its export target of $325 billion due to a slump in the global economy but the number might end up below $300 billion by the end of 2015-16, said Department of Commerce Joint Secretary Ravi Kapoor on Tuesday. Speaking at the sidelines of the India Engineering Sourcing show here, he told reporters: “India has reported exports of $312 billion against a target of $340 billion in 2014-15. The government has set a target of $325 billion for the current financial year. It will be a happy situation if the country achieves exports of $300 billion but it (exports) will end less than $300 billion.” Kapoor’s admission comes close on the heels of India’s exports contracting for the eleventh straight month in October. The joint secretary said the fall in exports was due to a fall in petroleum product exports, again a function of international oil prices. India’s merchandise exports dipped 17.6 per cent to $154.29 billion, while merchandise imports fell 15.2 per cent to $232.54 billion in April-October 2015.

CMA CGM gets first bite at APL Hellenic Shipping News Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), the parent company of the ocean carrier APL, has confirmed that it entered into an exclusivity agreement with the French shipping line CMA CGM to negotiate a potential acquisition of NOL. The agreement grants CMA CGM exclusivity until 7 December to complete a due diligence and negotiate a final offer for NOL. Lentor Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek which holds a 39.5% stake in NOL, is part of the agreement with CMA CGM. Of note, Temasek Holdings, the investment company owned by the Singapore Government, holds a further 27.5% interest in NOL that is not owned by Lentor. This suggests that Temasek could be planning to dispose only part of its 67.0% stake in NOL. Under Singapore stock market rules, CMA CGM could make a ‘voluntary general offer’ for all or part of NOL’s shares. The French buyer, however, would be required to make a mandatory offer for all of NOL’s shares as soon as its obtains more than 30% of the company’s voting rights.

TSA Recommends Container Rate Hike Maritime Executive Member shipping lines in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) have announced an increase in rate and fee guidelines for 2016-17 service contracts which are intended to ensure price and service stability, TSA says. TSA lines are recommending increases in minimum rates across the board, to $950 per 40 foot equivalent unit (FEU) to the U.S. West Coast and $1700 per FEU to the East and Gulf Coasts on December 1, 2015. The price will rise to $1200 to the West Coast on January 1, 2016. The carriers say they intend to establish higher baseline levels as they begin service contract negotiations, and wish to have the guidelines in place well before the Chinese New Year in February 2016. “Transpacific lines are adjusting to a new normal of larger ships and complex alliances, necessitated by cost and environmental compliance pressures – all in the context of an uncertain global economic environment,” explained TSA Executive Administrator Brian Conrad.

15 major shipping lines to call at Iran port Trade Arabia A total of 15 major international shipping lines have chosen Iran’s southern Shahid Rajaei port as their port of call, an Iranian official was quoted as saying in a report. Shahid Rajaei is currently Iran's biggest commercial port, which is directly and regularly visited by major shipping lines frequenting the Gulf, Ebrahim Idani, director general of Hormuzgan Province Ports and Maritime Department, said in an Iran Daily report, citing Press TV. He added that the bulk discounts to shipping companies has reduced the final cost of entry of commodities into the Iranian port, making it more economical compared to other Gulf ports. Idani further noted that fast loading and offloading services, and bunkering services to big vessels has turned the port into a major point of entry into Iran. He stated that about 700,000 tonnes of goods have been transhipped through Shahid Rajaei to other Gulf ports since March 21. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com