Air Freight News :
Hactl passes GDP audit with flying colours.
Hactl has completed its World Health Organization (WHO) Good
Distribution Practices (GDP) audit, with no non-compliances or observations.
It is the third
successive year in which Hactl has passed the audit with a perfect score.
Hactl was the first
cargo handler in Hong Kong to attain WHO GDP accreditation; the initial and
subsequent audits have been conducted by leading independent global standards
auditor SGS.
The WHO GDP audit once
again included examination of Hactl’s staff competence, premises, equipment, processes,
quality control system and hygiene standards.
It confirmed that
Hactl’s entire cold chain management system continues to conform to its
specified standards and those of the relevant GDP legislation and guidelines,
and that the company continues to adhere to its stated policies, objectives and
procedures.
UPS reaches tentative contract agreement with pilots.
The Independent Pilots
Association (IPA) and UPS Airlines have reached a
tentative agreement on a new five-year labour contract for pilots, after four
years of discussions.
UPS and IPA said the
new agreement provides for improvements across all sections of the contract but
added that specific details of the agreement will not be disclosed before the
union presents the proposed contract to all UPS pilots.
The contract must be
ratified by a majority of UPS’s 2,600 pilots. The vote by the pilots will be
completed on August 31 and if ratified, the new contract will become effective
from September.
“This tentative
agreement has been unanimously approved and endorsed by both the IPA executive
board and our negotiating committee. Over the next month we will present it to
our members with an unqualified recommendation for ratification,” said IPA
president Captain Robert Travis.
“This is an excellent
offer and we are pleased to have reached this agreement,” said Brendan Canavan,
UPS Airlines president.
“This contract rewards
our crew members for their outstanding contributions and contains provisions
that protect UPS’s ability to deliver competitive service to our global
customers.”
The tentative
agreement was signed yesterday by the IPA and UPS in the presence of Nicholas
Geale, Chairman of the National Mediation Board (NMB).
Sea
Freight News…
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Financial
Express
Ships entering or leaving Indian ports are not required to pay a
piracy-related additional insurance premium now, a move which will help
thousands of the vessels. The development has come after seas close to
the country’s western coast were removed from the list of the High Risk
Areas (HRA) for piracy. About 22,000 ships, that called on Indian ports
between 2010 and 2015, paid an estimated additional war risk premium
(AWRP) of about Rs 8,500 crore. “Ministry of Shipping took up the issue
of redrawing of the High Risk Area (HRA) Line back to 65 Degrees E (from
78 deg E) in the International Maritime Organization and as a result the
HRA was redrawn at 65 deg E,” the ministry said in a statement. “Thereby,
the ships coming to or leaving Indian ports do not have to pay AWRP now,”
the statement said.
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Business
Line
Struggling to get rid of high debts with bankers and financial
institutions, barge owners in Goa are banking on Union Minister for
Shipping Nitin Gadkari to bail them out through the intervention of
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). IWAI is the statutory
authority in charge of promotion of waterways in the country. With the
iron ore mining and exports coming to a halt three years ago following
the Supreme Court order, barge owners were one of the major stakeholders
affected, with bank debts mounting to 360 crore with around 400 barges
going out of work. Atul Jadhav heading the Goa Barge Owners’ Association
(GBOA) has been seeking the intervention of the State and the Centre to
overcome the debt crisis. GBOA initially tried in vain to press for
complete takeover of all outstanding loans by the government under a
Central assistance scheme of the IWAI.
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Economic
Times
India is seeking US cooperation in innovative technologies in Intelligent
Transport Systems (ITS) with its policy shift from 'Build Roads' to 'Move
in India' with special emphasis on efficiency and improving logistics.
This will be high on the agenda of Minister of Road Transport, Highways
and Shipping Nitin Gadkari when he meets US Secretary of Transportation
Anthony Foxx here on Monday. He will also seek US cooperation in areas of
project highways, material, equipment, tunnel projects, road safety
initiatives and training institutes and equipment like training simulators.
Gadkari, according to an official accompanying him, will highlight the
positive indicators contributing to the phenomenal revival of the roads
and highways sector in India and brief Foxx about India's leapfrog from
Bharat Stage BSIV to BSVI emission norms by 2020.
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Times
of India
For the trial of goods transportation through inland waterways of
Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (NW1), a cargo vessel from Haldia
reached Rajghat here on Monday and another vessel is likely to reach here
in next two or three days. The first vessel from Haldia has already
reached here and another vessel will arrive by Wednesday or Thursday,
assistant director, IWAI A K Mishra said. "Presently, the vessel is
docked near Rajghat as it cannot move further in the tortoise sanctuary
without the permission of the forest department. After the nod of forest
department, both the vessels will move to Ramnagar, where a terminal is
being constructed for loading of goods," Mishra said. "The IWAI
officials have sought permission for the movement of vessels and the matter
is under consideration," DFO, Kashi Wildlife division Manoj Kumar
Sonkar said.
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Meri
News
India's position to 35th rank in the latest bi-annual World Bank
Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report will open many corridors of
opportunities as industry will witness swift growth in international as
well as inter-state freights, an effect of Union Government's commitment
to make India as a preferred destination for many global businesses.
Noticeable in the government's latest first of its kind facility in
India, the implementation of logistics data tagging of containers to
track cargo at the JNPT. "The application of innovative tagging and
tracking, which enables in-transit visibility and real time status
update, has been so far successfully adapted in many advanced nations
such as America, Japan and Germany. Introduction of the same in India is
unquestionably claiming India's strong position in the global trade
map", said Brijesh Lohia, Managing Director of Global Ocean Group in
a statement.
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Port
Technology
Major public ports in India have seen first fiscal quarter growth of more
than 6% in comparison to the same period in the last financial year, with
the country’s 12 major ports handling more than 2.1 million TEU from
April-June, 2016, compared to 1.99 million a year prior. PTI previously
reported that India was looking to build another eight major ports across
the country to bring the total number up to 20 and further fuel economic
growth. Despite some political uncertainty, a greenfield deep-sea port
has been approved by the Indian government and to be built near Colachel
in Tamil Nadu, in order to reclaim gateway cargo lost to neighbouring
regions. A major initiative currently taking place in the country is the
‘Sagarmala’ which aims to improve ports and logistics processes in India,
and is anticipated to receive US$60 billion in investments over the next
five years.
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Arabian
News
CMA CGM will reorganise its services connecting India and the Middle East
to East Africa in a continued effort to provide increased reliability and
quality services. The shipping line said in a release that the
reorganisation was largely a result of evermore challenging market
conditions in the container shipping sector. Starting mid July 2016,
Noura Express and Swahili services will be reconfigured: reefer cargo
from Port Victoria will go direct to India and to Europe with a weekly
frequency instead of fortnightly. Service reliability to Mogadishu from
Mundra will be improved with direct service in 18 days instead of in
transhipment, and a very fast transit time from Jebel Ali to Port
Victoria in 18 days. The Noura Express service operated with 4 vessels of
2,200 TEU will cease Salalah calls and add in Mundra and Port Victoria.
Noura Express service new port coverage will be the following: Mundra -
Khor Fakkan - Jebel Ali - Mombasa - Mogadishu - Port Victoria - Mundra.
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Canadian
Manufacturing
Sri Lanka—China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country will align
its maritime silk road project with Sri Lanka’s development plans to
enable the island nation to become a shipping hub in the Indian Ocean.
Wang’s comments came after meeting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala
Samaraweera, starting a two-day visit. It is a sign of Sri Lanka’s new
government’s increasing receptiveness to Chinese projects having
previously suspended some to investigate corruption and possible
environmental hazards. “We’ll take the building of the maritime silk road
as a priority to better align our development strategy including your
five-year development plan so that we can come up with a comprehensive
blue print for future co-operation, so that we can help Sri Lanka build
itself into a shipping centre in the Indian Ocean,” Wang said.
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Times
of India
Lack of certified perishable packhouses and accredited testing labs in
Goa have led to a drop in the export of vegetables and fruits to four to
five tonnes per day from a high of 60 tons per day in 2012, Goa Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) officials said. Despite Goa International
Airport's attractive freight rates, exporters have found it difficult to
increase exports and expressed their concerns to the state government in
a recent meeting held with agriculture minister Ramesh Tawadkar.
"There are at least 15 major exporters who are ready to export, but
because Goa does not have a packhouse and an agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) approved testing lab,
only two to three exporters are operating," said GCCI member and
former secretary of Air Cargo Association of Goa Satyajit Bhattacharya.
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Hellenic
Shipping News
Many of the players in the maritime industry are likely to associate the
date 1 July 2016 with the entering into force of the new container weight
verification requirements. Others view the same date as an important
milestone in their work towards implementation of ECDIS onboard ships.
Through our Gard Updates, we focus on a wide range of shipping, claims
and insurance issues from the perspective of sharing knowledge and
providing advice and recommendations on how to manage technical and
operational risks, including information about important maritime
regulatory changes (international, regional or domestic) that may affect
Members’ and clients’ operations and obligations. Below are only a few
examples of international and regional regulations that have entered into
force so far in 2016 and for which non-compliance could compromise the
safety of the ship and/or come with financial consequences for the
shipowner:
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An
increasing number of ships and vessels are using liquefied natural gas or
LNG as a clean fuel to comply with the regulations laid by the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) across emission control areas.
LNG as a ship fuel reduces the emission of sulphur dioxide by 90-95%
compared to the conventional petroleum fuels. This factor has propelled
the growth of the global LNG bunkering market. The market stood at 70
kilo tons in 2013 and is anticipated to expand phenomenally at a CAGR of
63.6% during the period between 2014 and 2025. The overall market is
projected to reach 22,540 kilo tons by 2025. The lack of LNG fuelling
infrastructure across the major bunkering destinations is one of the
primary factors impeding the growth of the LNG bunkering market
worldwide. The high cost of building LNG fuel ships has slowed down their
adoption among the shipping companies.
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