DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

Air Freight News :

ACS and Antonov Airlines deliver the Americas’ heaviest ever air cargo.

Last week, the Brazil and Florida offices of global charter broker Air Charter Service (ACS) collaborated on a charter involving Antonov Airlines’ giant AN-225, the world’s largest freighter aircraft.  Moreover, this particular charter involved the heaviest single piece of air cargo ever flown into the Americas.

The cargo in question was a transformer which weighs no less than 182 tonnes.  It was flown from São Paulo in Brazil to Santiago de Chile. From there it was moved to its final destination, where it is has replaced a damaged transformer in a plant near the capital.

Richard Thompson, president of ACS Americas, remarked: “The airline has said that it is the second heaviest single piece of cargo that has ever been transported by air and the largest to fly in the Americas.  The record is a single piece weighing 187.7 tons which was flown from Frankfurt to Yerevan in 2009, making this charter the heaviest single piece flown this decade ”. 

Cathay Pacific Cargo B747F takes off from Wellcamp.

Cathay Pacific Cargo’s inaugural Boeing 747-8 freighter service connecting Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport and Hong Kong left the Australian gateway late yesterday, touching down in Hong Kong in the early hours of this morning.

The freighter will fly once a week on a Sydney – Melbourne – Brisbane – Hong Kong routeing.

It is Wellcamp’s only scheduled international freighter connection.

John Wagner, global chairman of Wagners, which developed the Toowomba, Queensland gateway, has described attracting the B747F service as a “major coup”.  He said in October : “The opportunities this creates for Queensland exporters to benefit from Australia’s free trade agreements and to access the world’s biggest consumer markets are unlimited.”

Saudia Cargo looks to Bangladesh and Kenya.

·         Saudia Cargo has been reporting strong improvements in demand on its Kenyan and Bangladesh services over recent months.  The airline’s vice president commercial, Rainer Mueller, told Air Cargo News that at the start of October it had increased its capacity from Kenya by 25% through the addition of new freighter flights to Brussels and Frankfurt.

Capacity from Bangladesh was up by 33% through the addition of a fourth weekly flight from Dhaka to central Europe via Saudi Arabia.  He said: “Saudia Cargo has been established in Kenya for a couple of years and we are putting a lot of focus on this market and also offering tailor-made products for our customers over there

In the apparel driven Bangladesh market there is still a ban on direct airfreight shipments from the country to the UK, Germany and Australia because of concerns over a lack of security measures at Dhaka Airport.  However, cargo from Bangladesh is still allowed into these countries if it is scanned at another location. This has seen some airlines reduce capacity from the market, while Saudia has been increasing space.

Mueller said that Saudia flies cargo from Bangladesh to Brussels via Saudi Arabia before trucking it to the final destination.

ABC awarded IATA’s CEIV Pharma certification.

·         

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), the scheduled cargo carrier arm of the Volga-Dnepr Group, has become the first airline in Russia and only the seventh in the world to be awarded IATA’s Center of Excellence for Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification for the global transportation of pharma products through its cargo hub at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport.

“Good health is one of our core corporate values so we clearly understand the importance of this certification,” commented Sergey Lazarev, ABC’s general director.   “IATA CEIV is a confirmation that our quality procedures for the transportation of pharma products, including temperature-sensitive goods, fully comply with IATA’s standards.

“Every player in the pharma supply chain must follow strict procedures to ensure products reach consumers in good time and in perfect condition.”   ABC completed the process for CEIV certification in just four months, successfully passing the IATA audit at the end of this period.

Sea Freight News :

Sagarmala Project proposes 14 coastal economic zones across India First Post The most talked after Sagarmala Project, envisaged by the Ministry of Shipping, proposes fourteen Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ) across major and non-major ports of India in a comprehensive plan to support the BJP-led government's Make in India initiative. The proposal comes at a time when India is lagging far behind in port-led industrialisation than China – its key economic competitor. The CEZs are expected to increase India’s merchandise exports by 110 billion by enhancing industrial competitiveness. The CEZs to be built as per a comprehensive plan for port-led industrialisation will embrace 12 industrial clusters those will require up to Rs 8 lakh crores of industrial investment and Rs 15,000 crores of investment in basic infrastructure. India begins transportation to Russia through Azerbaijan Azer News Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and India have agreed to use the North-South international transport corridor beginning from December for multimodal transportation of cargo from India to Russia. Shipments from India will be delivered to the southern port of Iran, and then will be delivered to Russia through Azerbaijan by trains and trucks, Vice-President of the Iranian Railways Hossein Ashoori told Trend. A test container train on the route was sent two months ago. Ashoori said that at present the time of delivery is 22 days, but in the future, the timing of freight can be reduced to 19 days. Speaking of the North-South corridor, Ashoori noted that Iran plans to build two lines of the railway in the country – Qazvin-Rasht (165 kilometers) and Rasht-Astara (164 kilometers). In its turn, Azerbaijan will extend the railway to Iran through the border city of Astara. CMA CGM to revamp its Indian Ocean Feeder Network Hellenic Shipping News Starting December 16th, 2016, CMA CGM has chosen to revamp its feeder network to Indian Ocean to reinforce its quality, reliability and frequency. The offering of two separate products dedicated to Comoros/Mozambique market and North Madagascar will strengthen our competitiveness. We are pleased to inform you that the new Indian Ocean Feeder Loop 3 service, deploying 1 vessel of 618 TEU, will be exclusively dedicated to Comoros and Nacala, Mozambique, via Longoni hub (Mayotte). In parallel, the current Comoros call on Indian Ocean feeder will be discontinued as from m/v KIRIA voy. 033JFR. Last call to Moroni on December 6th, 2016 and Mutsamudu on December 9th, 2016. Nacala call on Swahili service will be stopped from December 9th, 2016 with m/v CMA CGM OKAPI voy. 1502SN. A.P. can surpass Mumbai in port led development The Hindu Andhra Pradesh can surpass Mumbai in port-led development if the available resources, infrastructure, and demographic advantages are properly utilised, according to Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. CEO Anil Yendluri. The growth of the western region of the country was primarily due to the role played by the ports. Gujarat and Maharashtra were enjoying the fruits for many years. Now, Andhra Pradesh was inching close to the growth of Maharashtra and would become the second fastest growing State in the immediate future. It may be difficult to surpass Gujarat, which was far ahead, immediately, he said. Stating that China’s strategy of development was sea and port-based, he said that the overall development of a State was possible through the port- oriented developmental strategies. India tanks 5 spots on Global Connectedness Index Z Business India has tanked 5 spots to reach 78th position out of 140 countries in Global Connectedness Index for the year 2015. The country ranked at 73rd position in the year 2013. Global Connectedness is measured on the depth and breadth of countries’ integration with the rest of the world as manifested by their participation in international flows of products and services (trade), capital, information, and people (the four pillars of the DHL Global Connectedness Index). In terms of depth dimension, India tanked 7 places from its previous ranking to 133 out of 140 countries, while in breadth dimensions it gained 2 places to 21. “South & Central Asia lags across nearly all aspects of global connectedness,” the report said. While pointing out India’s lack of connectedness, the report added, Container lorry crew to strike work from Dec. 5 The Hindu Container lorry workers have issued a strike notice from December 5 reiterating their demand for provision of basic facilities and proper parking space for container carriers at the International Container Transshipment Terminal in Kochi. P.S. Ashik, chairman of the Trade Union Coordination Committee, affiliated to 10 trade unions, said the workers’ demands were more than six years old. The demands were first raised in February 2011, he added. “More than six years have passed, and the authorities, including the district administration, Cochin Port Trust and DP World that operates the container terminal, have washed their hands of the issues raised by lorry drivers, workers, and owners. This will be the last strike on the issue as the agitation will not be withdrawn until the demands are met,” Mr. Ashik said. India's top port seeks regulatory nod for rail-road tariff parity JOC Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s busiest public container handler, wants to cut the costs of using rail and increase the rates for trucking in order to close the traffic gap between the two modes. The port last week filed a proposal with regulator Tariff Authority for Major Ports, or TAMP, to equalize the costs of rail-handling with trucking in order to incentivize shippers to shift highway loads to intermodal trains. To help facilitate the road-to-rail conversion, the port has proposed slashing rail-handling charges from Rs. 1,547 (roughly $23) to Rs. 844 for a 20-foot container, and from Rs. 2,320 to Rs. 1,266 for a 40-foot container. For trucking, the port would increase rates at Rs. 844, versus Rs. 476, and at Rs. 1,266, compared with Rs. 714, respectively. “The current share of rail volume at JNPT, as a percentage of the total container throughput, is less than 15 percent. No impact study done for proposed port at Betul Times of India Union minister of state for shipping, Mansukh L Mandaviya, recently informed Rajya Sabha MP from Goa, Shantaram Naik, in a written reply, that no social impact study had been undertaken with respect to the proposed satellite port at Betul in South Goa. He also stated that the statutory clearances required were obtained. Mandaviya further said that Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is exploring various options to augment infrastructure, including expansion possibilities at Betul. “A request was made to the Goa government on May 9 this year to allot 107.10 acres of land for the purpose. The project is in the exploratory stage. This exercise will be undertaken only after land is alloted by the Goa government and due approvals are received from the central government,” he said. While replying to another question, Mandaviya told Naik that there was no proposal for negotiations with private companies for the development of rivers in Goa. L&T gets contract to build navigational lock at Farakka barrage Infra Circle The ministry of shipping has awarded the contract to build a new navigational lock at the Farakka barrage to Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) at a cost of Rs.359 crore. The project was awarded on 24 November. A navigational lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The ministry of shipping has appointed SBE Belgium as an engineering consultant to design the state-of-the-art navigational lock at the barrage. Farakka is a barrage across the river Ganga in West Bengal, roughly 16.5km from the bordering country of Bangladesh near Chapai Nawabganj district. “In a significant development, the Farakka lock has been awarded to L&T on 24 November. We already have a lock in Farakka which is quite old, takes a long time and is not maintained well. MANSA draws MbPT Chairman’s attention to workers shortage, net connectivity for ease of operation and cashless environment Hellenic Shipping News Mumbai and Nhava Sheva Ship Agents Association has drawn the attention of Mumbai Port Trust towards the shortage of dock workers and winch drivers that continues to adversely affects the vessel operations and if need be to outsource these activities. Shortage of workers at the ports has been instrumental in prolonging the vessel stay at the port affecting the turnaround time to 4-5 days from around 2-3 days, thereby escalating the costs. As against the normal requirement of 4/5 gangs (workers) per vessel, the supply is only of 1/2 gangs. In fact, the port had invited applications for awarding stevedoring licenses to the private operators in light of the heavy shortage of labour, but the progress of this initiative is yet to be ascertained. New 'Mega Port' Designed to be Middle Eastern Container Freight and Logistics Hub Handy Shipping Guide The Qatari Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, who is also Chairman of the Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar), and Sheikh Ali bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani, Chairman of Qatar Navigation (Milaha), today witnessed the signing of an agreement between Mwani Qatar and Milaha to establish a new company, QTerminals, to manage the newly constructed Hamad Port. The port, which is scheduled to become fully operational this week, is a $7.4 billion megaproject that the Qatari government expect will boost their logistics industry hugely and make Qatar a key regional hub by 2030. As per the agreement, the new company will be co-owned by Mwani Qatar; 51%, and Milaha; 49%, and will manage operations at Hamad Port as an independent company with its own board of directors, executives and staff. Hapag-Lloyd-UASC merger approved to form world's fifth-largest box liner Sea News The European Commission in Brussels has given the green light for Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd to purchase United Arab Shipping Co (USAC) on the condition the Middle East shipping line withdraws from its "consortium on the trade routes between northern Europe and North America." When completed, the merger of the two shipping lines will lead to the establishment of the world's fifth-largest container shipping line, reported Lloyd's Loading List. European Commission officials noted that both Hapag-Lloyd and UASC were members of shipping alliances respectively. The commission examined the potential impact of a merger between the two shipping lines on market competition on 13 trade routes. It was concerned that the merger could create networks on the northern Europe-North America trade routes handled by the alliances and consortiums that Hapag-Lloyd and UASC are separately part of. Maersk Line 'eyeing bid for Hamburg Sud' Yahoo News The container shipping unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk on Tuesday refused to comment on a report that it was mulling an acquisition of German peer Hamburg Sud. The company was interested in buying the entire business, which had $6.7 billion (6.3 billion euros) in revenue last year, and "not just... a few vessels", The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter. "Out of principle we do not comment on rumours," Maersk said in an email to AFP on Tuesday. Hamburg Sud's owner, the family-owned Oetker Group, was discussing a sale of its shipping business, the same newspaper reported last week. "Hamburg Sud is one of the players in the industry that is probably too small to survive in the long run. It only has three percent of the market," Sydbank (LSE: 0MGE.L - news) analyst Morten Imsgard told Danish news agency Ritzau.

DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Air Freight News :

Antonov to transfer An-124 sales to UK team after Ruslan JV ceases.

·         An-124 at Marseille

Antonov Airlines' team in the UK will takeover the sales and marketing of its An-124 aircraft after its joint venture with Volga-Dnepr that was set up to tout the aircraft comes to an end on December 31.

In the wake of confirmation from both Ukraine’s Antonov Company and Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group that their Antonov An-124-100-operating joint venture (JV) company Ruslan International will cease operations, Antonov is moving swiftly to develop its own business.  In response to the end of the JV, the Antonov Airlines team in the UK will “take the lead in the global sales and operations of this unique cargo aircraft”.

Dreamlifts Ltd (trading as Antonov Airlines) is, it added, “managed by an international group of well-known experts from the outsize and heavyweight cargo industry".

"With decades of experience between them, Antonov Company expects a seamless transition for its customers in the global supply chain and a continuation of its flexible and highly personal service,” it said.

Antonov currently operates a fleet of seven An-124s, including the An-124-100M-150 – which boasts a payload of 150 tonnes. 

It also flies the world’s biggest freighter, the An-225 Mriya, which has a maximum cargo capacity of no less than 250 tonnes, and the world’s largest turboprop, the An-22 Antei.

Oleksandr Kotsiuba, Antonov Company president, commented: “Antonov Airlines’ activities are supported by Antonov Company’s in-house design and development capabilities providing unrivalled expertise for the most challenging logistic projects.

“As the maintenance authority and life extension authority, we will continue to offer these proven and reliable airframes to the market for many years to come.”

While the Ruslan JV is being wound up at the end of this year, Volga-Dnepr Group’s business collaboration with Antonov will continue for the technical aspects of airworthiness and flight safety support of its An-124-100 fleet.

This confirmation of continued technical collaboration followed a warning from Antonov in September that it may seek a ban on Volga-Dnepr flying An-124 aircraft if the Russian freight carrier moved support functions for the aircraft to another company.  The two companies created the Ruslan partnership in 2006.

Lufthansa Cargo to divide regions as part of management cull.

·         Lufthansa Cargo has revealed more details on how it will divide up its regions in order to offload a layer of management in line with its cost cutting programme.

The German airfreight giant will now operate with eight regions instead of the previous four to allow it to remove a management level.

The previous four business areas –Europe, Africa, America and Asia Pacific – will become West Europe, North and East Europe, Middle East and Africa, US and Canada, Latin America and Caribbean, North and North East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The move is part of the airline’s Cargo Evolution strategy; the airline group has announced plans to reduce staff numbers by 800 worldwide, including a 35% reduction in management numbers, and has laid up two of its MD-11 freighters.

As well as cost reduction measures, the cargo airline has launched a new basic cargo offering, added a service aimed at private individuals, will invest in other products, has expanded its partnerships to increase the reach of its network and began selling capacity on sister airline Eurowings, and acquired the full shareholding of urgent logistics firm time:matters.

In the third quarter, Lufthansa’s logistics division slipped to its sixth quarterly operating loss in a row as market overcapacity and weak demand continued to blight financial performance

IATA to launch e-AWB tool for forwarders.

·         IATA will launch a new low cost online tool that is designed to allow small and medium sized freight forwarders to send and receive electronic shipment data, such as electronic air waybills (e-AWB).

The platform allows users to create, send and manage air waybills, house bill and electronic consignment security declarations.

It also allows forwarders to receive status updates from airlines electronically and track shipment status and receive shipment alerts. Documents can also be printed from the system.

“eAWBLink provides a window to over 120 carriers through our industry partners. Overall the e-AWBLink is a tool that will simplify day-to-day business,” IATA said in a promotional video.

Partners included in the development of the tool are Mphasis, Descartes and Hewlett Packard Enterprises.  The launch of the new tool comes as the air cargo industry continues to struggle with the adoption of electronic technology.

Smaller forwarders and Customs agents in far flung areas of the world are often accused of holding up the development of electronic processes because they lack the systems that are deal with these.

The latest figures from IATA show that e-AWB adoption has continued to improve this year, although at a slower pace than had been hoped for.

At the start of the year e-AWBs accounted for 37.2% of the total number of air waybills that were processed.  By September this figure had edged up to 42%, but IATA’s target of 52% penetration by the end of the year now looks unlikely.

Sea Freight News :

Kochi port in South India tries out moving containers in barges Sea News TRIALS have begun of a new barge service that will transport containers from the Kochi International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT), also known as the Vallarpadam Terminal, to the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kottayam Port and Container Terminal (KPACT). Six empty containers were transported by the barge during the first trial run, and thereafter fully loaded containers will be used. The barge can carry a maximum of ten containers via the Thanneermukkom bund. The trial runs are intended to ensure the smooth passage of the barge through the waterway, along which some areas near the port have already been identified for dredging. Once the waterway is fit to accommodate the barge, the port will need be to equipped with a 50-tonne capacity gantry crane to load and unload the barge. Currently, the KPACT has authorised customs clearance and serves as an import and export hub in Kottayam. The import/export clearance facility at the ICD has been there since 2012.

Rites moots rail corridor to boost coastal coal shipping Business Standard Rites Ltd, the consultancy arm of Indian Railways, has proposed a heavy haul rail corridor connecting Salegaon (Maharashtra) with the Paradip port. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 3,298 crore and it is being taken up mainly to boost coastal shipping of coal. Officials of Rites recently made a presentation on the proposed corridor to the Ministry of Coal. The project is proposed to be developed in two phases. In the first phase, the corridor will be built from Salegaon to Kandarpur near Cuttack — this is expected to be completed by 2021. This would help ease the congestion around Kandarpur. Subsequently, the corridor is planned to be extended to Paradip port. The commissioning of this phase is set to be co-terminus with an outer harbour planned by the major port under Government of India's Sagarmala initiative.

Cabinet Approves New Merchant Shipping Bill Outlook India The Cabinet today approved a new Merchant Shipping Bill by repealing the 58-year old law, a move that will promote ease of doing business, transparency and effective delivery of services. "The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016 for introducing it in Parliament," an official statement said. The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016, is a revamped version of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. It provides for repealing of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, as well as the Coasting Vessels Act, 1838, it added. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, had become a bulky piece of legislation over the years as a result of various amendments carried out in the Act from time to time. It was amended 17 times between 1966 and 2014, resulting in an increase in the number of sections to over 560.

DMIDC logistic data bank service extended at JNPT Business Line Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) today said it has commenced its logistic data bank service at fourth terminal of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and also plans to expand the facility to other ports in the country. “DMICDC’s LDB service for tracking of container movement, which began operations at three terminals at the JNPT, has extended it to a fourth terminal, with discussions now under way to expand the pioneering service to other ports in the country,” DMIDC said in a statement issued here. LDB, a system for near real-time tracking of EXIM containers using RFID technology as they move across the western corridor of the country, was introduced in June at the JNPCT, NSICT and GTI terminals of the port where it has collectively tagged and de-tagged over 1.2 million containers so far.

India far behind in port related development than China India is far behind in all the key performance indicators related to port-led development than China, says a report recently published by the Ministry of Shipping. The report comes at a time when China in a bid to beat India in capturing wider space in the global economy has established linkage with Pakistan’s Gwadar port even as India prepares itself to access the Chabahar port in Iran. Underlining India’s inability to optimize on it’s richly endowed maritime advantages in the last half a century, the report says that China leads India by a factor of seven times to 16 times on the measured parameters. The report says that between ports and power production stations, India requires linkages that would optimize the cost of fuel transportation, a lack of which has caused high energy production cost.

DCI eyes foreign shores Times of India Having carried out large number of dredging operations at various ports along the Indian coastline, Vizag-based Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) is now looking at expanding its presence to the foreign shores. As part of its plans to tap into dredging projects abroad, DCI recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Bahrain-based company with an eye on securing contracts in the Middle East. The development comes after a gap of nearly four years as DCI had last worked on a dredging project in Sri Lanka in 2012. According to DCI officials, the Vizag-based public sector undertaking has signed a business cooperation memorandum with Riyada Group of Companies of Bahrain with a view to expand further opportunities and expand operations in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and Middle East.

37 national waterway projects in next 3 years; Nagaland gets one Eastern Mirror Nagaland will have a ‘National Waterway’ in the coming years now that the central government has embarked upon developing major waterways in the country. So far the centre has announced 37 of said projects out of which Nagaland also has found a place. The national waterway for Nagaland stretches to around 42 KM. Which waterway it was, was not specified in the information given by Minister of State for Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on November 17. A decision to undertake development of National Waterways declared under the National Waterways Act of 2016 is based on Techno Economic Feasibility Study and Detailed Project Report, commissioned on each of them, by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, the minister stated. The Act has been enforced with effect from the 12th of April 2016.

CRWC boosts rail side warehousing Bureaucracy Giving a boost to railside warehousing operations in India, the Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Central Warehousing Corporation, is planning to set up 10 warehouses at railheads to store commodities besides upgrading its existing 19 warehousing complexes in India for Rs 200 crore. KU Thankachen, Managing Director of the CRWC, talks about its expansion plans. The railside warehousing operations of the Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd started in 2003, with an understanding between a Miniratna PSU, Central Warehousing Corporation, and the Indian Railways. Initially the railside warehousing services were used as a transit warehouse, especially for bulk commodities which only required storage for a limited period. However, in 2007, the CRWC was made a separate subsidiary of the Central Warehousing Corporation.

Gwadar Port benefits to China limited Global Times The benefits of Pakistani Gwadar Port to the Chinese economy may be limited, as the port's capacity cannot satisfy China's oil import demand and a proposed pipeline from Gwadar to western China would be both economically and geographically infeasible and would raise crude transport costs by as much as 16 times, experts said. However, the port is a bonanza for Pakistan, experts said, noting that it will bring a string of opportunities for the country, including revitalizing its lackluster economy and attracting more foreign capital. Following the first trade cargo ships that departed from Gwadar on November 13, the National Business Daily (NBD) suggested China would benefit a lot from the port because of its strategic location. The port "is located on the Arabian Sea and occupies a strategic location," Bloomberg reported, giving China access to the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East.

Mergers: Commission approves container liner shipping merger between Hapag-Lloyd and UASC, subject to conditions New Europe The clearance is conditional on the withdrawal of UASC from a consortium on the trade routes between Northern Europe and North America, where the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive constraint. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “European companies rely on container liner shipping services for their transatlantic shipments. It’s very important that the markets remain open.The commitments offered by Hapag-Lloyd ensure that the takeover will not lead to price increases on the routes between Northern Europe and North America.” The transaction leads to the combination of two competitors in the container liner shipping business and will create the fifth largest container liner shipping company worldwide. Like several other carriers, UASC and Hapag-Lloyd offer their services on trade routes mainly through cooperation agreements with other shipping companies, known as “consortia” or “alliances”.

Why is Korea Line buying Hanjin Shipping's Asia - US container business? Seatrade Maritime The move by Korea Line to buy bankrupt Hanjin Shipping’s Asia – US container line business, that sees the company taking the plunge into the container trade at a very difficult time, is a head scratching one. Korea Line is paying $31.4m for the business, which includes the routes, customer information and operations in seven countries, including US, China and Vietnam, as well as some 574 employees from Hanjin. It does not, however, include five 6,500 containerships from Hanjin or its stake in a Long Beach container terminal in the US, which Korea Line has an option to buy. Korea Line apparently outbid Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) for the business, which was put up for sale by the Seoul bankruptcy court last month. While Hanjin clearly needs as much money it can get to pay off its debts, HMM, despite its own travails, would have been a more logical choice in terms of guaranteeing the future of Hanjin’s Asia – US business as it is a space it is already operating in.

Maersk confirms HMM not joining 2M Alliance but looking at other options Sea News Following everal months of discussions, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have decided against admitting Korean line Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) into their 2M container shipping alliance, opting instead to explore various lower-level partnership options. Confirming the decision with Lloyd's Loading List, Maersk Line said: "The parties have discussed the possibility of HMM joining 2M as an operating partner and now decided to look at other cooperation possibilities. "The parties are therefore discussing the possibility of HMM partnering with the 2M network through a slot exchange and purchase agreement. The partnership discussions are ongoing and include the possibility of Maersk Line taking over charters and operations of vessels currently chartered to HMM with the aim of deploying them in the 2M network.

DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23, 2016

Air Freight News :

Lufthansa – German Carrier cancels 876 flights due to Pilot’s strike.

Lufthansa said it was cancelling more than a third of its flights on Wednesday 23-11-2016 due to a 24 hours strike by its pilots, the latest disruption to its operations to be caused by a pay dispute. This cancellation will affect roughly 100,000 passengers.

The strike, the 14th to hit the airline in its dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit Union, will run from midnight and affect both long haul and short haul flights departing from German airports. Already the carrier is in red and this will worsen the financial performance more.

CHEP scoops SIA Cargo deal.

·         Singapore Airlines Cargo (SIA) has awarded a five-year global maintenance and repair agreement to CHEP Aerospace Solutions for its fleet of ULDs.

The deal will see CHEP will provide maintenance and repair services in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Brussels, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas, with additional stations likely to be included in the global repair network.

In addition to the core ULD maintenance and repair services, CHEP will provide storage, control, inventory reporting and delivery of pallet nets, corner ropes, straps and other consumables at some of the appointed stations. CHEP's proprietary repair management software ACTIS will provide SIA with real-time insight into all elements of the repair process. The deal comes shortly after the ULD firm announced it was being taken over by investment firm EQT infrastructure.

Swiss WorldCargo to allow shipment tracking devices.

·         Swiss WorldCargo will now allow customers to use certain tracking devices in their shipments and has added a new team to help with queries related to any deviations registered by the devices.

The cargo division of Swiss said it had decided to allow the use of tracking devices because "timely information and transparency is a key requirement in supply chain logistics, since, despite careful planning, cargo irregularities can occur, such as temperature deviation, misrouting or pilferage".

In line with the development, Swiss WorldCargo is providing a 24/7 dedicated intervention team able to react to any deviation worldwide based on ATD data.

Alain Guerin, head of product, services and technology management, said: “This service is unique to Swiss WorldCargo customers as it offers the transparency of real-time information and an intervention team which can influence transportation quality in real-time.

UPS adds Californian flights ahead of the peak season.

·         UPS will add flights out of San Bernardino International Airport (SBD) in California to cover the peak season rush in demand.  From December, the US express operator will operate four flights per week from between the airport and UPS' Louisville hub using a Boeing 757 aircraft.

President of UPS’ South California District Tom Cuce said: “This is our busiest time of year, and with the huge spike in holiday shipments, we need additional capacity to deliver for our customers. The flights from SBD will fly directly to Worldport, our main air hub in Louisville, connecting the Inland Empire to UPS’s worldwide network.”

UPS expects to deliver more than 700m packages globally between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, a 14% increase over 2015.  The airport boasts a new air cargo facility located adjacent to 60 acres of aircraft ramp, and access to three major interstate highways.

National lends a hand for Haiti.

·         National Airlines has been providing support for Haiti as that country rebuilds following the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew.   The airline has transported large power generators as well as critical water purification equipment into the most difficult to reach places in Haiti.  "Nearly 1.4m people in Haiti remain in need of humanitarian assistance and 40% of those are children, according to the United Nations," said Chris Alf, National chairman and chief executive.

"We are proud to be a part of these efforts to bring much needed equipment to Haitians during a critical time."

Mark Burgess, president of National, added: "Very few privately held airlines are properly equipped to move such large quantities of heavy equipment with unusual, emergency-driven lead times.  National is uniquely positioned to facilitate such last-minute transport."

Sea Freight News :

Shapoorji Pallonji to acquire majority stake in Gopalpur port IB Times Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a diversified business conglomerate with interests in construction, real estate, textiles, engineering goods, home appliances and shipping among others, is likely to acquire majority stake in Gopalpur port in Odisha. Gopalpur port is the second private port in this eastern state after Dhamra, which is run by Adani group. In 2006, the port project was won by a consortium of Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL), metal trading firm Sara International. This all-weather port which is being run on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model, had earlier seen exit of Noble group in 2010. According to sources in the know of the deal said Shapoorji Pallonji Group is likely to buy majority stake from Sara International with OSL holding on to its 49 percent stake. An official of Gopalpur port told that discussions were going on for some time and the deal would take another two months to be sealed.

Reliance Ports received Rs 1,767 cr irregular I-T sops: CAG Millennium Post CAG has pulled up the Income Tax department for giving benefit of Rs 1,767 crore to the port and terminal arm of Reliance Industries by allowing deductions meant for public facilities to the company’s captive jetties. CAG said the income tax assessing officer (AO) allowed deduction of Rs 5,245.38 crore to Reliance Ports and Terminals Ltd towards construction of four captive jetties at Port Sikka in Gujarat without examining the eligibility criteria for allowance of the deduction. In a performance audit of tax holiday for development of infrastructure sector, which was tabled in Parliament today, CAG said: “The irregular allowance of deduction by the AO has resulted in under assessment of income of Rs 5,245.38 crore involving tax effect of Rs 1,766.74 crore”.

Container shipping headed right direction, but distortions in store Seatrade Maritime The glass is either half full but perhaps with a fizzy drink or half empty and leaking fast for the container shipping industry, depending on who you ask. The prognosis for recovery in the liner shipping industry fell very much along professional lines at the Asian Logistics and Maritime Conference in Hong Kong as a panel of industry practitioners debated the issue of what's on the horizon for liner shipping. For Alphaliner executive consultant Tan Hua Joo, demand growth in the developed markets of Europe and North America hold the key to recovery while in a counterpoint, McKinsey partner Steve Saxon suggested that recovery is much more likely to come from the emerging market countries with their higher proportion of consumer-oriented demand.

Mumbai Port Trust launches New York-style plan to unlock waterfront assets Business Standard Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has launched a slew of projects to unlock the potential of waterfront properties, along the lines of World Trade Centre properties in New York City and Singapore Marina. It aims to transform the premier port into an attractive commercial and entertainment destination, at a total investment of over Rs 1,000 crore. The master plan envisages utilisation of a part of port land for other than port and port-related activities. It seeks and to unlock the untapped commercial value of its land assets with the development of a marina, sea-front walkways, promenades, water sports, plazas, floating restaurants, public transport, entertainment hubs, heritage tourism places, convention centre and a marine museum. MbPT chairman Sanjay Bhatia told, "The entire master plan is an integrated exercise that links the waterfront facilities with the overall east coast development of Mumbai's last open lung space.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port steps up cargo process automation JOC Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, which loads the majority of the containerized freight passing through India’s major, or public, ports, is continuing to invest in automation to standardize cargo procedures as part of its “ease of doing business” program to shore up productivity. The top port last week issued a customer advisory calling on all cargo interests to do away with individual systems for issuing of delivery orders and instead migrate to a common electronic application, named e-DO, to facilitate trade. “In order to streamline the container delivery process, as part of the Ministry of Shipping directives, the Indian Ports Association, or IPA, was advised to develop a web-based application, so as to eliminate the manual interfaces,” JNPT said. “All customs house agents are requested to ensure that the e-DO generated by the web-based application be used for all the three terminals and common procedures be adopted for the convenience to the trade.”

Why Colachel port brings tears to fishers Times of India Even as we celebrate the World Fisheries Day, fishermen of Colachel in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district live in fear of losing their livelihood once the proposed Colachel International Container Transmit Terminal takes off. With the Wedge Bank - the third largest fishing ground of the world - being situated in the west coast of Kanyakumari district, fishing remains the only source of livelihood for nearly 1 lakh fishermen in the area. It also provides jobs to more than 50,000 people in the harbour and the fish market. The fishermen of Kanyakumari district are well known for fishing in the deep sea for multiple days. They go fishing from 500 to 1000 nautical miles into the sea and stay in the deep sea from 15 to 50 days. Their catch includes varieties like shark and tuna. Although such expeditions are often risky to the lives of fishermen, the catch helps them eke out a decent livelihood.

New Mangalore stevedores oppose port proposal on multipurpose berth Business Line The Association of New Mangalore Port Stevedores has opposed the proposal of the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) to hand over the multi-purpose deep-draft berth no. 8 as container terminal to a private party on PPP (public private partnership) mode. M Shekar Pujari, president of the association, told Business Line that the port has not held consultations with the stakeholders such as local stevedores and C&F (clearing and forwarding) agents on the proposal. More than 5,000 stevedores and C&F agents will be affected, if the proposal is implemented, he said. He said the proposal is misleading as it is called a container terminal, though it is nothing but taking over a multi-purpose deep-draft berth. The average growth in container cargo was around 16 per cent in the last six years.

Watch for demonetisation's effect on exports. It isn't good Money Control Things have changed fast. Indian equity markets are reeling under the effect of demonetisation and question marks swirl around its impact on the economy. Meanwhile, the Dow and S&P are within touching distance of all-time highs and the Nasdaq has hit a peak. The Baltic Freight Index, an indicator of movement of global freight rates, has hit a new 15 month high signifying a pickup in trade across the globe. In India, export-oriented industries, in particular, are battling a slowdown on account of supply disruptions thanks to demonetisation. A Reuters report says that exports of 1 million bales of cotton from India are delayed after government's move to ban high value currency notes prompted farmers, who prefer cash payments, to postpone their sales. The problem of cash arises for export-oriented units mainly on account of payment to labour, especially daily labour and temporary workers.

EEPC report calls for more trade pacts with Latin America Business Line To meet the challenges of an uncertain global market, India needs to explore more preferential trade agreements (PTA) and economic engagements with Latin American countries (LAC) which hold potential due to the big size of the market and comparatively favourable regulatory conditions, an industry report has proposed. “Trade negotiations are on the anvil by several LAC economies to promote trade with major economies and emerging markets of the world including India to reduce trade barriers and attract investment. This is an appropriate time when Indian small, medium and micro enterprises can rise up and significantly contribute towards enhancing bilateral trade with LAC,” according to a report titled ‘Doing Business in Latin America and the Caribbean’ brought out by the Engineering Exports Promotion Council.

Raw cashew exports rise even as kernel shipments dip Business Line Exports of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) have risen sharply in October even as cashew kernel exports for the April-October period continued to plunge. In October, 2,288 tonnes of RCN were shipped out and with this the total shipments in the period soared to 2,309 tonnes valued at ₹32.96 crore from 1,666 tonnes valued at 15.74 crore. Shipping of RCN took place when “we are one of the largest processors in the world and our dependence on imported RCN has so far been perpetual with over 50 per cent of our requirement being met by imports every year,” said Sundaram Prabha, Chairman, Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI). Cashew exports continued to show a declining trend every month with total shipments in the April-October period dropping 24 per cent in volume and 12 per cent in value, he said.

CMA CGM settles loan to acquire NOL but posts Q3 loss of US$268m Sea News CMA CGM has posted a third-quarter loss of $268 million, reversing a profit of $51 million a year earlier due mainly to lower volume and rates, IHS Media reported. Excluding expenses related to the company's September acquisition of NOL, parent of APL, the container line's loss was $202 million, the third quarterly loss in a row. CMA CGM called the performance "unsatisfactory" but said the company was "resilient" and had managed to maintain "operating discipline" by "keeping a tight rein on costs" and being selective about the freight carried. The carrier also said it had fully repaid ahead of schedule a loan taken out to acquire NOL, with payments totaling $880 million from the proceeds of two sale and lease-back transactions involving 11 vessels that were completed on last Wednesday. The payment, along with two others made earlier, means the full loan of $1.7 billion taken out to acquire NOL has been repaid, the company said.

HMM, 2M to Look at Other Cooperation Possibilities World Maritime News After some five months of talks with South Korea’s shipping firm Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) on the possibility of HMM to join the world’s largest alliance 2M, the parties have now decided “to look at other cooperation possibilities.” Since July 2016, the alliance, comprising shipping giants Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), has been in discussions with the Korean container carrier on HMM joining the 2M vessel sharing agreement (2M VSA). The parties “discussed the possibility of HMM joining 2M as an operating partner,” according to a spokesperson from Maersk Line, however, the talks have now shifted to the possibility of HMM partnering with the 2M network through a slot exchange and purchase agreement. Hyundai Merchant Marine was looking to join the 2M alliance after their membership in the G6 alliance expires in 2017.