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UPS moves to annul European veto on TNT takeover.

UPS is asking the Luxembourg-based General Court to overturn a European Commission veto on its failed bid three years ago to take over European express operator TNT, a company which is now on course to be acquired by FedEx, arch rival to UPS. News agency Reuters said that the UPS challenge - an action originally lodged in April 2013 and now subject to a hearing - is considered important because it allows Europe’s second-highest court "to rule on key merger principles that could affect other problematic deals".

UPS' takeover of TNT was rejected by the Commission because of its concerns over the impact on competition. According to documents filed with the European General Court, the UPS appeal is based on five pleas. It argues that the Commission committed an error of law and assessment when examining the likely price effects of the merger; diverged from the standard set by case law; misapplied the concept of closeness of competition; breached UPS' right of defence by denying access to evidence; and made an error of assessment in analysing customers' ability to restrain the merged entity.

The merger of UPS and TNT would have created one of the largest express companies in Europe, although not the largest. Based on figures from DHL, published in 2013, the combined entity would have had a European market share of 38%. This compares to DHL's European marketshare of 41%.

CargoLogicAir to fly Beirut freighter for ABC.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) is furthering its partnership with UK-registered CargoLogicAir (CLA) by launching a weekly Boeing 747 Middle East freighter link to Beirut out of London-Stansted via Amsterdam. The Beirut service is due to begin on April 17 and extends the operational contacts between Stansted-hubbed CLA and Russian-owned ABC.

CLA conducted its first scheduled flight in February this year in association with "partner airline" ABC, flying out of Stansted to Frankfurt, Libreville (Gabon) and Johannesburg, with further routing to Nairobi. The newly registered CLA, which hopes to operate a fleet of five Boeing 747 freighters by 2018, has also carried out charter flights for broker Chapman Freeborn Italia.

On March 28, CLA applied to the US Department of Transportation for a foreign air carrier permit and related exemption that would enable it to provide foreign air transportation of property and mail between the US and the European Community and the member states of the European Union.

This week also saw CLA sign a ULD management agreement with CHEP Aerospace Solutions, the global provider of outsourced ULD pooling and repair.

Etihad's new freighter begins operations on Malpensa-Bogota service.

Etihad Cargo has transferred its recently delivered Boeing freighter onto its service between Milan Malpensa and Bogotá. The service has been running since November 2014 with a wet lease Boeing 747, but Etihad has now transferred one of its own B777 freighters onto the route.

The new aircraft joined the fleet at the end of February 2016 and takes Etihad Cargo’s dedicated freighter fleet to a total of 11 aircraft. It is also the first time Etihad has used one of its own aircraft on the sector.

Etihad said the aircraft is capable of transporting more than 100 tonnes of cargo on each flight and will strengthen the cargo division’s operation between South America and Europe. Bogota has been growing rapidly in recent years and last year saw volumes jump by around 5% to more than 660,000 tonnes.

It hasn’t all been good news for the airport of late – earlier this year Lufthansa Cargo axed a freighter service from the airport to Europe that targeted the flower market because of weak market conditions. Meanwhile, Italy is Europe’s third largest cargo market and Milan is growing as an important European cargo hub. Last year, Malpensa saw volumes jump by more than 8% to over 500,000 tonnes.

US and Azerbaijan sign open skies deal

The US and Azerbaijan have signed an open skies agreement in Baku, capital city of the southwest Asian country. Jahangir Asgarov, president of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), and Robert Cekuta, the US ambassador in Baku, signed the open skies agreement on April 6 for the liberalisation of air transport market between the two countries.

Baku-based freighter operator Silk Way West, with a fleet of two Boeing 747-400Fs and three Boeing 747-8Fs, said on its website: "The bilateral agreement will simplify the process of organising flights between the US and Azerbaijan, and contribute to the increase in the number of commercial flights."

Silk Way West Airlines has been operating the Baku-New York regular flights once a week since May, 2015.

In March this year, Malpensa airport-based Silk Way Italia, part of the Silk Way Group, applied for a foreign air carrier permit to offer scheduled and on-demand cargo charters by B747-400Fs out of Italy and intermediate points to the US and beyond.

Port congestion surcharge withdrawn by Railways

Economic Times
Facing a decline in freight volumes, Railways has withdrawn the port congestion surcharge levied on cargo moving to inland, a move aimed at attracting imported coal and iron ore traffic. The port congestion surcharge levy, which is 10 per cent of the basic freight rate, has been withdrawn with immediate effect, according to a railway notification issued yesterday. The decision is in line with the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's promise to make rail a competitive mode of transport in comparison to roads, and will be effective till March 2017. The move is likely to benefit companies in the coal and iron ore sectors, apart from shippers of containerised cargo. The removal of congestion surcharge will lead to 15 million tonnes of incremental traffic in the current financial year alone, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

PM Modi pitches for Rs 1 lakh crore investment to develop ports

Business Standard
The Centre has prepared a comprehensive plan to increase India’s port handling capacity to 3,000 million tonnes by 2025 from the present 1,400 mt. The government envisages an investment worth Rs 1 lakh crore to meet this target, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his inaugural speech at the maiden Maritime India summit. The Union ministry of shipping is showcasing about 250 projects for investment opportunity in the sector. The proposed plan includes development of five new ports in addition to the existing 12 major ports and ongoing development at three new ones. He said a slew of initiatives, including the Sagarmala project, will help revive and restore India’s position in the global maritime sector. He added the Sagarmala project would allow leveraging the 7,500-km long coastline.

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India planning to add eight major ports: Nitin Gadkari

Live Mint
As part of its aggressive plans for port-led development, the government on Wednesday said it is looking to add eight major ports to the already existing 12. “We are planning to add eight new major ports, including the three already announced at Wadhwan in Maharashtra, Sagar in Bengal and Colachel in Tamil Nadu,” Union minister of road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari said a day ahead of the Maritime India Summit. He did not reveal the locations of the other five ports, but added that the three ports entail an investment of Rs.25,000 crore and work on them will start this year itself. After Kandla in the 1950s, India has not built any other major port. Following rapid economic growth, country saw the development of private sector non-major ports. Gadkari said the 12 major ports together have delivered Rs.4,200 crore profit in fiscal 2016, and their growth rates are faster than private sector rivals as well as global peers.

Ports to be modernised, not corporatised: Nitin Gadkari

Economic Times
Rejecting any notion about the government being pro-big business, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari today said it is not pursuing any corporatisation agenda for the state-owned ports and the priority is to modernise them. "It is not a problem of the unions. It is a political problem. The opposition parties want to establish that the government is against poor, this government is pro- industrialists. So it is a fight for the image," Gadkari said. He was replying to a question on whether the pressure from unions was coming in way of the corporatisation of state-run ports. "That policy which was already there regarding corporatisation of ports, presently we don't have anything in mind to take any decision on this subject," Gadkari said. The minister said the government has thought "seriously" on the matter and decided to modernise the ports, give them new systems and all advantages through beneficial policies.

Sagarmala project to be completed in 5 years

Economic Times
The government will halve the previously estimated 10-year timeframe to complete the Sagarmala port development project, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. The minister for shipping, road transport and highways also spoke about an agreement with the defence ministry that could potentially lead to orders worth Rs 50,000 crore for Indian shipyards, including private ones. The Sagarmala project is estimated to create 10-million jobs, he said at the Maritime India Summit here. Developing India's 7,500-km coastline will boost merchandise exports by $110 million and increase coastal shipping volumes by as much as five times of the current levels to about 330-420 million tonne per annum, he said. It could mobilise investment of about Rs 4 lakh crore in India's infrastructure sector over the next 10 years. The National Perspective Programme for Sagarmala was launched here by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Gujarat signs pacts worth Rs35,000 crore at Maritime India Summit

Live Mint
Gujarat received investment proposals worth Rs.35,000 crore for port projects from companies including Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) on the first day of the Maritime India Summit in Mumbai. Apart from IL&FS, the state signed an agreement with Simar Port Pvt. Ltd and a tripartite accord with the Union shipping ministry and the Indian Ports Association, according to a statement on Thursday by the GMB, the regulator for all non-major ports and maritime activities in the state. IL&FS plans to develop a completely integrated maritime complex at Nana Layja in Gujarat’s Kutch district at a potential investment of Rs.10,049 crore. Simar Port, a special purpose vehicle set up by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, was granted a letter of intent by GMB for development of a LNG terminal at Chhara port, in association with HPCL, under a sub-concession agreement.

New bill for PPP port projects to be tabled soon

Economic Times
The government will in the next two months table a new bill that will facilitate a model agreement for forging public-private partnerships in the port sector. "In the next two months, we will have a new model agreement, hopefully by June 30. Ministry of shipping is coming up with a separate bill that can handle long term concessional arrangement between port and terminal operators", Rajive Kumar, secretary, Ministry of Shipping said. Kumar said there are several investment opportunities in the dredging and barges development as the coastal cargo movement is set to rise by 6 times in the next 10 years. Kumar said the objective is to bring down bunker fuel cost further for all cargoes. States have been requested to bring down Value Added Tax ( VAT) on bunker fuel and three states have responded, he said.

Sagarmala can save India Rs 35,000 cr year on logistics: report

The Hindu
The Union government’s Sagarmala project, aimed at promoting port-led development in India, could lead to annual logistics cost savings of Rs 35,000 crore and boost India’s merchandise exports to $110 billion by 2025, the Sagarmala National Perspective Plan report said. The report was released by the Prime Minister on Thursday. It said the Sagarmala programme will also create one crore new jobs, of which 40 lakh will be in the nature of direct employment. Shipping Minister, Nitin Gadkari, told reporters that the objective of the plan is to substantially reduce export-import and domestic trade costs with minimal investment. The minister said: “This plan is based on four strategic levers: Optimising multi-modal transport to reduce the cost of domestic cargo, minimising the time and cost of export-import cargo logistics, lowering costs for bulk industries by locating them closer to the coast and improving export competitiveness by locating discrete manufacturing clusters near ports.”

Concor announces new scheme to benefit exim trade in Coimbatore

Business Line
In a major initiative to benefit the exim trade in Coimbatore, the Container Corporation of India (Concor) has announced a special scheme to transport empty containers from Kochi Port to Irugur ICD free of cost. This will ensure that empty containers required for stacking export cargo from Coimbatore will be mobilised free of freight cost. It will reduce the overall transport cost of containers exported through Kochi as movement of empty from Kochi was one major contributor to the cost. The last quarter of the previous financial year had witnessed over 15 per cent growth in container handling through Vallarpadam terminal. One of the initiatives that resulted in the growth was the commencement of the regular Saturday container rail service from Coimbatore to Kochi.The present scheme announced for the next six months will further help Coimbatore exporters by making empty containers available readily and at much less cost.

Adani group: Will focus on completion of existing port projects

Financial Express
Having bagged multiple port projects, the Adani Group today said it will focus on execution over the next year. “Right now, we are focusing on finishing our existing projects. We are expanding at Dhamra, and want to complete the Ennore project. “Next one year, we will just focus on completing our expansion of the existing projects,” Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Chief Executive Karan Adani told reporters here at the Maritime India Summit. When asked if the company will be bidding for any of the new five major projects announced, Adani said, “Nothing on the cards.” Vizhinjam transshipment project in Kerala is progressing as per the schedule, he said, and exuded confidence that the company will complete it within 1,000 days as promised. He also welcomed the Sagarmala Project for integrated approach which he said has been lacking till now and added that the results will be visible in 18 months.

Defence ministry to give Rs50,000 crore orders to shipping ministry

Live Mint
The defence ministry is channelling projects worth Rs.50,000 crore through the shipping ministry, which will in turn enlist Cochin Shipyard Ltd to farm out some of the work to debt-ridden private sector shipyards. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters at an event dedicated to the maritime industry that his ministry would sign an in-principle agreement with the shipping ministry to that effect. A shipping ministry official said on condition of anonymity that the in-principle agreement had been scheduled for signature on Thursday, but had been delayed. Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said the projects would include one costing Rs.18,000 crore to construct nine ships to carry liquefied natural gas (LNG). The plan is aimed at offering debt-ridden private ship builders a helping hand by channelling the projects through the shipping ministry and Cochin Shipyard.

Bunker market poised for radical change

Motor Ship
If all goes to plan, 2016 will be the year the bunker industry gets some much-needed clarity about its medium-term future, writes Thomas Roller, managing director, Bomin Bunker Holding. A committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meeting in October, will consider the findings of a study into the availability of low-sulphur bunkers. Once it has completed its deliberations, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will recommend whether 2020 or 2025 should be the date the world’s merchant fleet switches to fuels with a sulphur content of no more than 0.5%. Whether the cap is implemented in four or nine years – although the majority of opinion formers believe 2020 will be enforced – shipping companies will be required to face a complete overhaul of their bunker strategies.

Krishnapatnam Port to be now linked to Oman with a new service

Business Standard
Krishnapatnam Port, the country's largest all-weather deep water port on the east-cost, will be connected with a new service from Salalah, Oman by Maersk Line India, starting April 17. The new service will connect the customers in the surrounding areas of Andhra Pradesh, Northern Tamil Nadu and Eastern Karnataka directly to Oman and neighbouring region. It will offer fast transit time between Eastern coast of India, Sri Lanka and Oman, Krishnapatnam Port said. The ports of rotation for the services are: Salalah-Colombo-Krishnapatnam Port-Kattupalli-Salalah. Commenting on the development, KPCL managing director Chinta Sashidhar said "We are very pleased to welcome Mearsk Line and look forward to a rewarding professional relationship. The new service will substantially reduce transit time in these areas and will also minimise the cost, which will be of a huge benefit to our customers."

Money is not an issue for port-led development: Nitin Gadkari

Business Standard
The Centre has taken a number of initiatives to further strengthen ports and shipping and thereby make India competitive. In an interview with Sanjay Jog, the Union minister of ports and shipping Nitin Gadkari explains the government’s intent. Edited excerpts: The national perspective plan, released by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Maritime India Summit, aims to promote port-led development by harnessing the 7,500-km coastline, 111 waterways of 14,500 km. At least 150 projects have been identified — infrastructure development (Rs 4 lakh crore), industrial investment (power, steel, manufacturing, Rs 8 lakh crore), augmentation of coastal shipping and inland waterways to cut logistic cost (Rs 35,000-40,000 crore). The reduction in logistics cost will boost both domestic and external trade.