DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 01, 2017

FLASH NEWS :

On account of Union Budget 2017-18, due to be presented on February 01, 2017, filing of Bill of Entry’s would not be available from 5 PM onwards on 01-Feb-2017, till completion of updation of all changes in ICES 1.5.   This may take 3 to 4 days which please note.

So, please take all necessary steps to clear the goods from Custom latest by today evening to avoid delays.

Air Freight News :

Van de Weg leaves Volga-Dnepr.

·         Robert van de Weg has resigned as senior vice president of sales & marketing for Volga-Dnepr Group after only three months in the role.  The Russian freighter operator said that van de Weg "will continue to co-operate with the Group on a strategic level".

Van de Weg's surprise career change comes after he was appointed to the senior post in October 2016.  At that time, van de Weg assumed commercial responsibility for both the Group’s scheduled cargo operations and charter businesses, namely AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Atran Airlines.

The three airlines operate a combined fleet of 16 Boeing 747, 12 An-124-100, five IL-76TD-90VD and three 737-400 freighters.

Van de Weg joined ABC in May 2014 as senior vice president of marketing & sales as the airline registered year-on-year growth in Europe, Russia, North America and Asia Pacific.

This is the second senior departure from the Volga-Dnepr group in less that six months. In August 2016, Denis Ilin, executive president of AirBridgeCargo Airlines, resigned after three years in accordance with mutual agreements.

AA Cargo's Jim Butler promoted as Art Torno retires.

·         American Airlines has announced that Art Torno will retire from his role of senior vice president - international and cargo, to be replaced by Jim Butler.  Torno joined American in 1979 as a flight attendant and has held numerous leadership positions, including vice president - New York, vice president - Caribbean and Latin American operations and vice president - Miami.

From 2012 to 2015, Torno served as senior vice president - Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, overseeing the airline's operations in more than 80 cities in the region.

In 2015, Torno was promoted to his current role. In this role, he leads American's international operations, which include more than 400 daily flights to more than 110 destinations, as well as the airline's cargo business.

With Torno's retirement, president - American Airlines Cargo, Jim Butler, will assume the role of senior vice president - international and cargo and will report to Kerry Philipovitch, senior vice president - customer experience.

Butler has been with American for 21 years and over this time has “helped strengthen cargo's contribution to the airline and successfully led cargo's integration process, becoming the first operation at American to fully merge”, the airline said.

IATA's ten cargo resolutions as e-AWB penetration misses 2016 target.

·         Global electronic air waybill (e-AWB) penetration reached 48.9% in December 2016, again falling short of the full year target of 56%

IATA has issued ten New Year resolutions for the global air cargo industry.  Top of the list is “embrace e-commerce growth” which accelerated 23.7% in 2016: “Online sales are on the increase, demand is high as well as the need for quick delivery, which creates a significant opportunity for air cargo,” said Glyn Hughes, IATA’s global head of cargo. 

Second is “remove paper”, of which Hughes said: “Today one air cargo shipment can still require up to 30 pieces of paper. The industry needs to accelerate the implementation of end-to-end paperless transportation processes through implementation of programs such e-freight and e-AWB.”

Global electronic air waybill (e-AWB) penetration reached 48.9% in December 2016 with a 682,664 digital documents on feasible trade lanes, again falling short of the full year target of 56%.

However, according to the latest e-cargo briefing by IATA, an e-AWB penetration rate of 62% can be achieved by end of 2017, using a forecasting model based on the historical achievement.

The remaining eight resolution topics are: enhance the movement of trade, standardized processes for transport of time and temperature sensitive goods, collaborate to combat illegal trafficking, eliminate rogue lithium batteries shippers, one digital language, implement piece level tracking, stay positive, and never forget.

Sea Freight News :

Economic Survey 2017: Highways construction, cargo, power-generation record growth Financial Express Despite facing challenging infrastructure deficit in the country aided by resource crunch, debt-laden firms and stressed assets, highways construction and cargo exports registered impressive growth in the first half of FY2017, the Economic Survey said today. Railway earnings saw a dip by about four per cent in the first half of the current fiscal while cargo at major ports saw about 5 per cent growth with cargo export growing by 10 per cent. “On logistics, India is handicapped relative to competitors in a number of ways,” the Survey mentioned indicating that the costs and time involved in getting goods from factory to destination is greater here compared to other nations despite advantages of cheaper labour. It mentions that logistics cost in India is a high USD 7 per km for road transport as compared to USD 2.5 in China, USD 3 in Sri Lanka and USD 3.9 in Bangladesh.

Sudden new ocean freight tax in India confuses and annoys forwarders The Load Star Forwarders are expressing concern and confusion, on the eve of the new budget, over the recently implemented 4.5% ocean freight tax imposed on Indian importers. The tax came into effect on 22 January, with no notice, and is applied to all shipments imported into India which are ‘pre-paid’. If shipments are booked on the basis of cost and freight (C&F) or cost, insurance and freight (CIF), the ocean freight is paid by the exporter. But the confusion – as ever – lies with who must pay the new import tax, with forwarders complaining that they are being treated like banks. One lawyer from Chennai advised: “Where a foreign consignor has engaged a foreign shipping line to transport goods to an Indian port, the person in charge of the vessel, or his agent in India, is liable to pay [the] tax. “It may be noted that this is a peculiar situation: where the person liable to pay service tax is neither the service provider nor the service receiver, but the agent of the shipping line.”

Indore-Tihi rail line set to be operational from Feb Times of India The new rail line between Indore and Tihi is likely to be made operational for goods train soon. Officials with Ratlam Division of the Western Railway said, "The first container train is likely to start on this line from February." They said this new line will pave way for operations of goods and container trains that will provide direct connectivity to industries in Pithampur. It is expected to reduce the distance between Mumbai and Indore by 200 km. This is another reason why Pithampur's industries are eagerly awaiting this new line. The direct delivery of containers would save on travel time. Due to the lack of connectivity at present, goods are being transported to Ratlam by road and then to other destinations via train. Poor connectivity from Pithampur has always been an obstacle for freight exporters of this area.

Transport infra plays pivotal role in economic growth DD News India is the bright spot and fastest growing economy in the world. And to sustain that, one of the most important sectors Government needs to focus on is Transport infrastructure. And PM Modi led government has been doing exactly that over the last two and a half years. Expectations from Budget 2017 from Road transport and Shipping infrastructure sectors are high. Transport infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the growth of the economy. The presence of quality infrastructure paves way for vibrant infrastructure growth. During the budget 2016-17 Govt has allotted Rs.221,246 crores for the country's infrastructure. Rs 97,000 cr was allocated especially for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Rs 1600Cr was proposed to boost Shipping sector and inland waterways.

DRI cracks down on red sanders smuggling, suspected mastermind arrested DNA Pointing to Maharashtra being a major hub for smuggling of endangered red sanders, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized over 12 tons of the red sandalwood worth around Rs 4.87 crore. The raids conducted by the department last week in JNPT, a godown at Kopar Khairane in Navi Mumbai and the air cargo, also saw 101.5 kg of sandalwood worth Rs 8.12 lakh being seized. The DRI has also arrested the alleged mastermind Mohammad Omar. DRI officials said the red sanders were concealed in 26 jumbo bags of iron and bauxite meant for export in Nhava Sheva. Later, a godown located in Kopar Khairane and the air cargo were also raided. While 3,250 kg and 8,720 kg of endangered red sanders was recovered from the godown and port, the raids at the air cargo station saw 204 kg red sanders and 101.5 kg of sandalwood being seized.

US withdrawing from TPP would boost Indian leather exports Kaumudi The United States formally withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership would benefit the domestic leather industry, a top official of industry body Council for Leather Exports said, here, today. "Already the leather exports to US market has been increasing with an year-on-year increase of about 8 per cent as of 2014-15. With the new President Donald Trump withdrawing US from TPP it will benefit our industry in future", Council for Leather Exports,Vice-Chairman,P R Aqeel Ahmed told reporters. Soon after becoming the new President of United States, Donald Trump last week formally withdrew his country out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by signing an executive action from the negotiating process of the 12-nation trade deal, one of the major international trade initiatives of his predecessor Barack Obama.

Dubai Launches Programme To Promote Trade With India Silcon India In a bid to promote bilateral trade relations with India, Dubai's Department of Economic Development has launched a programme that allows commercial disputes to be resolved quickly at minimal costs. Dubai Exports, the economic development department's promotion agency, launched the initiative 'Buyer Protection Programme', designed by the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP), as a pilot project through its Overseas Trade Office in India. The programme allows commercial disputes to be resolved quickly and at minimal costs. Traders in India can now approach the Dubai Exports representative office in their country to submit complaints following which CCCP will start working towards an amicable settlement, a statement released by the UAE's official news agency Wam said.

Amazon begins Freight Forwarding Operations with Shipments from China to US Supply Chain Digest It has been almost a year since Bloomberg and others reported that Amazon was taking steps to build out an end-to-end global logistics service capability that would compete with major 3PLs, forwarders and carriers, perhaps not only to move its own freight but those of others. Amazon moves included getting licenses in both US and China to act as a wholesaler for ocean container shipping. At the time, wondered if it wasn't the most audacious logistics strategy in history. It now appears those reports were indeed accurate. Amazon has begun handling shipment of goods by ocean to its US fulfillment centers from Chinese merchants selling on its site, taking on a role it previously left to global freight-forwarders, as do most other shippers. Amazon's Fledging Freight Forwarding Service has Moved 150 Containers from China to the US Since October, as Global Logistics Strategy Unfolding.

X-Press Feeders Abandons Trans Atlantic Brand Name World Maritime News Singapore’s carrier X-Press Feeders will start operating under its own brand name the three services acquired last year from Swedish shipping company Rederi TransAtlantic AB (RABT), a subsidiary of Viking Supply Ships, Dynamar BV informed. The services including TransBothnia, TransFeeder North and TransFeeder South have been since the acquisition offered under the TransAtlantic container brand. A total of five ships with a capacity ranging from 700 TEU to 1,000 TEU are deployed in the services, which are centered on German ports of Hamburg and Bremenhaven and cover Denmark, Sweden and Finland. In November 2015, TransAtlantic AB reached an agreement to divest its container operation to X-Press Feeders and, in a separate transaction, to divest ship management operations to Sweden-based ship operator AtoB@C.

BIMCO: Supply-Side Crucial for Boxship Market Recovery World Maritime News The demand for container shipping grew steadily in 2016 improving the fundamental balance in the market in the second half of the year, driven by decisive actions by shipowners selling excessive tonnage for demolition, according to BIMCO. An early assessment of the overall market demand growth rate for 2016 is 2.5%. 2016 saw increased demand on all trades. The demand for containership capacity, on the other hand, as evidenced by the very low charter rate levels, showed a total mismatch between demand for and supply of ships for charter. Overall, the peak season in 2016 was longer than normal: from August, right through to November which caused some downward pressure at first, as tonnage was employed in anticipation of a regular season.

Persian Gulf shippers gain Asia link via Hamad service JOC Hamad Port’s receiving of its first ship from Shanghai as part of a regular service on Jan. 26 marks a new way for shippers to feed the Persian Gulf region through recently opened trans-shipment hub. An inbound stop at Colombo enables access to Qatar for shipments from south and east India and elsewhere, while connections to international services and trans-shipment ports from Qatar are made via India’s Mundra port on the outbound leg. The MSC Elma arrived at Hamad after sailing from Shanghai Jan. 5, according to Qatar Ports Management Company. The Elma is deployed on Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s New Falcon service, which utilizes eight ships with capacities of 8,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units. The New Falcon service also calls at Ningbo, Chiwan, Singapore, Mundra, Jebel Ali, Hammad, Jubail Dammam, and Umm Qasr.

Chennai port terminals handle record single day volume of throughput Business Line The two private container terminals - CCTPL and CITPL - at Chennai port together handled record container throughput in a single day with a total handling of 10,063 twenty foot equivalent units on January 28. The previous handling record in a single day was 9,541 TEUs handled on December 30, 2016. Despite severe tariff competition and congestion, Chennai port is regaining its glory and is marching towards a positive growth, said Chennai Port Trust chairman P Raveendran in a press release.

Tanker companies liable to pay for clean-up: Experts The Hindu The two companies whose cargo ships collided on Sunday, causing a massive oil spill — now confirmed as more than 20 tonnes by the Indian Coast Guard — will have to pay for the clean-up, compensation and remediation, legal and environmental experts say. The oil spill has already spread from Ennore to beyond Elliots Beach, along the Chennai coast. “The ship owners will have to compensate for the damage caused to the environment and the clean-up activity. Under Sec. 15 of the NGT Act, 2010, compensation can be granted to those affected,” a senior legal expert on environment told The Hindu. Those who are affected by the oil spill can also move the High Court for compensation under the Admiralty Jurisdiction. This will be heard as a civil suit, the expert said.

BHP launches online freight platform to sink shipping costs CNBC BHP Billiton has launched an online system under which shippers compete to offer the best price to haul cargoes of commodities such as iron ore and copper to the mining giant's customers. BHP this week allocated its first cargo using the auction-style platform, which it hopes will save money as it bypasses brokers who traditionally help negotiate vessel-hire rates between cargo owners and shippers. The company plans to gradually ramp up the platform, which it said was the first of its kind for a major charterer, although it follows in the wake of similar freight portals from companies including Ocean Freight Exchange. Such platforms could potentially overhaul the way miners contract freight services, reducing their costs at a time when commodity markets appear to be picking up following years of low prices.