DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25, 2017

Air Freight News :

Cathay moves into Lufthansa's Frankfurt cargo terminal.

·         Cathay Pacific Cargo is relocating its local cargo handling activities in Frankfurt to the Lufthansa Cargo terminal as part of the co-operation agreement between two airlines that both have sizeable passenger and pure freighter fleets.

The Frankfurt move follows a reciprocal arrangement which saw Lufthansa Cargo move its Hong Kong freight handling operation to Cathay Pacific’s terminal as part of its Joint Business Agreement (JBA) with the Far Eastern carrier.

The relocation of Cathay Pacific Cargo's freight handling into the Lufthansa Cargo Center (LCC) in Frankfurt is a core element of the JBA, announced in May 2016. The merging of freight handling for imports and exports at Frankfurt was concluded on January 17

Etihad's Hogan to step down in second half of 2017.

·         James Hogan (above) will step down as president and chief executive of Etihad Aviation Group in the second half of 2017

James Hogan will step down as president and chief executive of Etihad Aviation Group in the second half of 2017. 

Hogan will join an investment company along with Etihad Aviation Group chief financial officer James Rigney, who will also leave the company later this year. A global search for their replacements is already underway, said the Abu Dhabi-based airline. 

The airline company board and Hogan first initiated the transition process last year with the formation in May of the Etihad Aviation Group, a diversified global aviation and travel organisation. 

Only last week, at a Dublin conference, Hogan, hit out at critics of the Middle East carrier’s partnership strategy, describing it as a “core element of the growth of the business”.

In the same week, the Middle East carrier also had to deny industry rumours, originating in the Italian financial press, that Etihad was looking to take a stake of up to 40% in Germany's Lufthansa.

Accenture to buy Seabury's aviation consulting businesses.

·         Professional services company Accenture is to acquire the aviation consulting businesses of Seabury Group, the New York-based professional services firm focused on the aviation industry.

Accenture said that the combination of Seabury’s corporate advisory and consulting businesses, together with the new owner's global capabilities, “will help the world’s leading airlines accelerate the pace of digital transformation”.

Jonathan Keane, managing director of Accenture’s Aviation practice, said: “Airlines are having to innovate to respond to changing customer expectations, digital disruption and revenue and cost pressures.

“The aviation expertise that Seabury will bring to Accenture will complement our global capabilities, solutions and services.”

Seabury’s corporate advisory practice focuses on restructuring distressed aviation companies through strategic planning and cost reduction. Seabury’s consulting practice focuses on fleet, network, commercial, maintenance, airports, cargo and human capital improvements.

Sea Freight News :

Union Budget 2017 to be a logistics sector friendly budget India Infoline The coming budget is expected to be a logistics sector friendly budget, in terms of allocation of funds for infrastructure creation, tax benefits for technology introduction and incentives for cashless transactions in the road transportation industry. In the area of infrastructure, a few things that can be expected are - (a) Allocation of funds for creating integrated-check-posts infrastructure with simultaneous checks by all departments at a single point for minimizing on-route delays (b) green-channel at all highway check-posts for all consignor / consignee validated consignments (c) development of highway-side infrastructure through oil companies (d) allocation of land and set-up of base infrastructure for transport hubs and warehouse hubs at strategic locations. Cashless transaction will see a major push with the development of payment-infrastructure at tolls and fuel retail outlets through banks.

Kochi port offers cargo handling facilities to cos Business Line Aimed at improving the financials as well as cargo throughput, the cash-starved Kochi port is reaching out to companies by offering cargo handling facilities in the port area. Jindal Steel located at Alibagh has approached the management for using the port area to handle its finished product steel coils. The company intends to utilise the cost-effective coastal shipping route to move these high volume cargo from Maharashtra to cater to the south Indian markets, AV Ramana, Deputy Chairman of the port, said. “Discussions in this regard are in final stages and we are encouraging them to use Kochi as the hub to cater to the industries in Tamil Nadu”, he said. Likewise, talks are on with leading cement companies with a throughput guarantee to set up units in Willingdon Island for semi-captive use as well as with private sector petroleum companies for POL products handling.

4 State rivers to get national waterways The Hindu Transporting cargo and ferrying passengers on Maharashtra’s rivers is likely to begin in a few years, with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) deciding to set up four National Waterways (NW) in the State. Besides these, three NWs are also being planned in the neighbouring State of Goa. Pravir Pandey, vice-chairman, IWAI, said, “We have identified eight to nine rivers in Maharashtra. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) and environment study are at an advanced stage. By June 2017, we will have a clear picture. However, we are certain that we are going ahead with four NWs in Maharashtra.” The rivers chosen for these national waterways include the Amba (NW 10) with a 42-km waterway. The NW 28 will use the Dabhol Creek-Vashishti, Revadanda Creek-Kundalika for the NW 85 and the Savitri Bankot Creek NW 89. Mr. Pandey said IWAI will be signing MoUs with the Maharashtra Maritime Board for developing these waterways.
Hapag-Lloyd Names Second 10,500 TEU Ship World Maritime News German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd named its second new 10,500 TEU containership Cartagena Express at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries shipyard in Samho, South Korea, on January 23, 2017. Scheduled to be deployed in the company’s SW service, Cartagena Express is the third ship of the Post-Panamax series to be delivered to Hapag-Lloyd, after the Valparaíso Express, which gave its name to the new class, and the Callao Express. All three newbuildings will be deployed in the SW service, which offers weekly connections between North Europe, the Caribbean and West Coast South America. “With the Cartagena Express, yet another state-of-the-art ship of our 10,500 TEU fleet is setting sail. In terms of size, design and reefer capacity, it is ideally suited for the traffic between Europe and South America West Coast,” Anthony J. Firmin, Chief Operating Officer of Hapag-Lloyd, said.

India Subjects Foreign Shippers To Service Tax Tax News From January 22, the same service tax and levies already imposed on Indian shipping companies are also payable by foreign exporters using non-Indian vessels to import goods into India. On a free-on-board basis, Indian shipping companies have been subject to a service tax of 4.2 percent, plus the 0.15 percent Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and 0.15 percent Krishi Kalyan (Farm Welfare) levies, since June 1 last year. However, the service tax and levies were not imposed if non-Indian vessels were employed. Imports of goods into India on foreign vessels on a cost-and-freight basis will now pay the same taxes as imports using local ships. While Indian shipping companies will now be more competitive, it is expected that the overall cost of imported goods in India will increase.

IRISL launching new container service connecting France, Iran and Asia Seatrade Maritime Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) is a launching a new service that connects the French port of Le Havre with Iranian, Middle Eastern and Asian ports. Before the international embargo and sanctions, Iranian containerships called at Le Havre every week between 2006 and 2009, connecting the main Iranian ports. The service will begin in February and will be operated by HDASCO Line (Hafez Darya Arya Shipping Company), also named HDS lines, which is a speciast container carrier under the IRISL Group. This new service times are as follows times: 19 days between Le Havre and Bandar Abbas for example. It will call at the following ports: Bandar Abbas, Asaluyeh, Bandar Iman, Khomeini, Busher and Khorramsharh in Iran and the port of Um Qasr in Iraq. The service will also call ports of: Malta / Khor Fakkam / Jebel Ali / Xingang /Busan/Qingdao/Shanghai/Ningbo/Yantian / Port Kelang.

Seafarers’ insurance now mandatory Hellenic Shipping News Seafarers will have better protection under mandatory insurance rules that took effect on Tuesday, which require ship owners to have compulsory insurance to cover abandonment of seafarers as well as claims for death or long-term disability. International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Kitack Lim in a statement welcomed the new obligations under the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC 2006), saying that these will improve working conditions for seafarers. “These amendments, which will provide better protection for seafarers and their families, are the fruit of successful collaboration between IMO and ILO to ensure better working conditions and better protection should things go wrong. I am very pleased to see these amendments enter into force today (January 17) for the Parties to MLC 2006, all of which are also IMO Member States,” Lim said.

Container Shipping: What next for the smaller TEU fleet? Platts The world is becoming an ever smaller place and the ability to conduct business with the most competitive companies globally is paramount for survival. The emphasis on customer needs now provides competitive advantage, and in the case of the container market, this may present opportunities for smaller TEU vessels. These containerships, which generally fall into the 1,000-4,999 TEU size range, were once pioneers laying a foundation for the modern behemoth of the container market. Later, when the focus shifted to their bigger and younger sisters and the economies of scale they provide, smaller vessels started to quickly lose their appeal. Now, after the opening of the new Panama Canal locks, they no longer hold their main advantage and many believe they are facing a maybe slow, but certain extinction. With big liner services and the largest ships mostly serving the big hub ports, smaller vessels may still embrace their advantage of flexibility and concentrate on the more niche trades.

Maharashtra’s Dighi port may get Russian security system Port News A Russian-made port water monitoring system is likely to be installed at the Dighi Port in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, Artyom Cherepanov, Deputy Director General (Commercial Affairs) of the Morinformsistema-Agat consortium told TASS on Jan. 20. According to Cherepanov, members of the All India Association of Industries (AIAI) expressed interest in installing the security system at the Dighi port while holding talks with Agat’s representatives in Mumbai. The Dighi port is close to Mumbai and is a part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a planned industrial development project between Delhi and Mumbai. Investments to the tune of $90 billion are being pumped into the project, which aims to build planned industrial cities and form a global manufacturing hub. The corridor is receiving financial and technical assistance from Japan. Russia has also been invited to participate in the project.

Newbuild deliveries biggest threat to container market recovery: Drewry Seatrade Maritime The biggest threat facing the recovery in the container shipping market is the large amount of newbuildings set to be delivered this year according to consultants Drewry. While both freight rates and demand have improved in recent months risks for newbuild tonnage and cascading of older vessels remain. “We are more optimistic than we have been in a long while as demand will continue to make small, incremental gains and freight rates will rebound after last year’s nadir,” Drewry commented in its weekly report on the container market. “However, we also identified the biggest risk to that outlook as the huge number of ship deliveries, particularly at the top end of the scale.” Barring delivery delays container shipping is facing up to 1.7m teu of newbuildings this year, more than half of these over 14,000 teu, meaning the vast majority will be deployed on the Asia – North Europe trade.

DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2017

Air Freight News :

Cargo demand at Schiphol reaches record levels in 2016.

·         Amsterdam Schiphol Airport saw cargo volumes reach record levels in 2016, with demand to Asia and e-commerce volumes leading the way.

The airport, which is the third busiest in Europe by cargo volumes, saw demand increase by 2.5% on 2015 levels to reach 1.7m tonnes.  In December, demand improved by 10.4% on a year earlier to reach 149,000 tonnes.

The demand improvement is a reflection of general market growth, with Airports Council International Europe estimating that airport demand in the region improved by 3.5% year on year during the first 11 months of 2016.

Asia remains Schiphol’s largest market, with Shanghai, the busiest destination, and new direct flights launched to Xi’an and Ningbo, both in China.  Another trend at the airport was a switch from direct services to China, to those transiting via other European hubs

Finnair opts for ECS Group in Southeast Asia.

·         Finnair has selected ECS Group as its new general sales and services agent covering six southeast Asian markets.

Under the contract, ECS Group will market, promote and sell cargo products on behalf of Finnair on its passenger flights operating from several destinations across Asia into its European and North American network.

The countries that ECS will cover on behalf of Finnair are Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia as well as extending the current main contract for Singapore.  Finnair operates two daily flights from Bangkok, daily flights from Hong Kong and five flights a week from Singapore.

In addition, Finnair operates flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Xi'an and Guangzhou in China, Incheon in South Korea, and Narita, Nagoya, Osaka and seasonal Fukuoka in Japan.

Finnair fleet mostly consists of Airbus A350s and A330s, which offer a cargo capacity of 15-20 tons per flight.

Cargolux passes GDP renewal audit.

·         Cargolux Airlines has passed its Good Distribution Practice (GDP) renewal audit for handling pharma products to European Union regulatory requirements and of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

In addition, the GDP certification recognises the European all-cargo carrier’s fleet of Boeing 747 freighters with four independently-controlled temperature zones.

The audit also extends to the Luxembourg-based airline’s qualified team of cool chain experts, experienced in the handling of healthcare goods in an effective, end-to-end temperature controlled process.

Cargo revenues and demand down at Delta.

·         Delta Air Lines ended 2016 with declines in both cargo revenues and demand once again. The US airline saw cargo revenues decline by 17.8% year on year during 2016 to $668m, with declines being particularly strong in the first half of the year. Delta also reported revenue declines in 2015 and 2014.

Delta does not provide commentary on the results of its cargo division, but the decline in revenues does reflect the wider industry trend of rate declines for the majority of the year.  Revenue declines also mirror a 9.5% year on year decline in annual demand to 2bn cargo ton miles. On the traffic front Delta has been registering declines ahead of US rivals American and United this year.

Sea Freight News :

Cabinet approves India-UAE maritime transport and highways pact IB Times The cabinet committee on Wednesday approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on institutional cooperation in Maritime Transport. The MoU will set the stage for facilitation and promotion of maritime transport, simplification of customs and other formalities. Additionally, the agreement would also encourage the use of existing installations for waste disposal and enable shipping companies in India and UAE to enter into bilateral and multi-lateral arrangements for sustainable trading activities, the government said in a statement. The cabinet also approved an agreement on bilateral co-operation in the Road, Transport and Highway sector. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India and the Federal Transport Authority (Land and Maritime, UAE) together inked the MoU.

Trade partners: boosting US-India maritime cooperation Ship Technology It was only a few days after the Indian government announced cargo traffic at twelve of its largest ports was up by 6.2% that a major step forward in US-India maritime cooperation took place. During a week-long trade delegation to the US back in 2016, India’s shipping, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari met what his office described as “captains of trade and industry” to push forward major investment plans for new ports and new berths and terminals at existing ports. For many, those investment plans can’t come soon enough. While traffic continues to grow - up to 159 million tonnes from 149.74 million in the previous fiscal year - India’s ports remain crippled by problems around infrastructure, connectivity, and low funding. The way non-major ports are used and the low share of inland waterways in moving goods and passengers really obstructs the ecoomy from reaching its full trade potential.

India, Sri Lanka talks to develop Trincomalee port enters final stage New Indian Express India and Sri Lanka will soon be finalising an accord to take New Delhi’s help to develop Trincomalee Port in the East of the Island nation, a move seen as Colombo’s attempt at fine balancing India and China. China has pumped in money to develop the Hambantota port in the South and is now said to be investing in Colombo port causing much discomfort in India that sees the Indian Ocean Region as its area of influence. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2017, Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan Minister for Regional Development, said Trincomalee is the deepest harbour in South Asia and "things are being finalised" with India to develop the port. Hambantota Port built at a cost of $ 361 million is yet to take off with the port and the Chinese-built airport failing to attract traffic. The project has been funded by loan from Chinese Exim bank and is now becoming a “huge burden” on Sri Lankan economy.

Reliance delivers Panamax bulk carrier to global shipping company Business Standard Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, said on Wednesday that it has delivered a 74,500 deadweight tonne (DWT) new-built Ice-class Panamax bulk carrier to an undisclosed international shipping company. “The company has delivered a 74,500 DWT new-built Ice-class Panamax Bulk Carrier viz. ‘Sea Amber’ on January 17, 2017,” the company said in a media statement. The company in its statement added this is one the largest dry bulk carriers of that class to be built in India. With this, Reliance Shipyard so far has delivered till date seven similar size, Ice-class Panamax vessels to its international customers. “These are the largest dry bulk carriers of their class ever built in India. RDEL is the only Indian Shipyard to achieve this landmark,” the company said in its statement.

Remove infrastructure holdups to put logistics sector on a growth highway Business Standard India, a $2 trillion economy has a logistics market size of $ 130 billion and is forecasted to grow to $ 300 billion by 2020. The logistics sector contributes close to 5-6 percent to GDP and the sector has been growing at a CAGR of 11-12 percent. The sector has been growing at 1.5 to 2 times of GDP growth and the real spend on logistics in India is to the tune of is 14.4 percent of GDP which is relatively high as compared to developed economies which is in the tune of 7-8 percent. There is a direct co-relation of economic activity in any country and the logistics and transportation infrastructure. Therefore, modernising the transportation infrastructure along with bringing trade friendly policies becomes inherent to developmental goals. Amongst all the modes, road and rail transport are the most significant.

Cochin Port Trust lines up growth plans Times of India Cochin Port Trust (CPT) has announced a slew of measures to generate container traffic and increase revenue. CPT has announced an outer harbour project next year and it hopes to capitalize on the increasing number of passenger liners, likely to touch port this year, with better passenger amenities and infrastructure facilities. CPT is also aiming for a smart industrial port at the southern end of Willingdon Island to boost business. CPT officials said that IIT-Madras, which is preparing the sedimentation status of the sea, will submit their report by June to the ministry of environment and forests through the environment impact assessment agency L&T Infra. "IIT-Madras is doing the study in three phases: Looking at the real-time data of pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon periods.

JNPT plans Rs 1,000 cr port on west coast DNA Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust's Board has plans to invest a minimum of Rs 1,000 crore as part of its latest expansion plan, wherein it may either build a new port or buy an existing one on the western coast. Even under-construction ports are being considered for acquisition. Apart from that, the port authorities are also considering investment in ancillary facilities that will not only reduce cargo movement on land but also generate higher returns. As per the plan, which is in the initial stages, JNPT wants to explore new investment opportunities on the western coast of India. "We need synergy for our existing port. The new port can preferably be in and around Maharashtra's coastline". "Apart from a port, the investment option that is being explored includes containers, dry ports, or port-related infrastructure such as logistics hubs or ancillary facilities such as wind or solar assets for captive or grid connectivity," read the proposal.

CPT records Rs 96.4-cr operating profit New Indian Express The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) recorded an operating profit of Rs 96.4 crore in the eight months till December in the 2016-17 Financial Year (FY). Disclosing this, A V Ramana, chairman (in charge) CPT told reporters in Kochi Wednesday that it expected Rs 128.54 operating profit in the current fiscal. He added that by June 2017, it will get an additional Rs 30 crore from Petronet LNG as the transportation of the gas via road would get under way. The total traffic up to December through Cochin Port was 18.23 MMT and the port expects to touch 23 MMT in 2016-17. The port handled 22.10 MMT cargo in 2015-16, Ramana said. “The operating income up until December 2016-17 was Rs 367.27 crore and the total expenditure was Rs 270.87 crore. We expect to clock Rs 129 crore operating profit this fiscal. CPT had handled 3.67 lakh TEUs of container till December.

South Korean SM Line to launch new services 'from the ashes of Hanjin' The Load Star South Korean conglomerate Samra Midas Group (SMG) has applied to the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to start a new transpacific container service. Branded SM Line, it would begin operating in April, deploying a fleet of five 6,500 teu vessels. Addressing a meeting of the National Retail Federation (NRF) in New York on Monday, commissioner William Doyle said executives from SMG had visited the FMC to discuss its application. Mr Doyle told delegates SM Line was proposing to operate a liner service between Shanghai and Ningbo in China, Busan in South Korea and Long Beach on the US west coast “from the ashes of Hanjin”. “In addition,” said Mr Doyle, “SM Line intends to operate eight intra-Asia services between China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries.”

Who is afraid of GST? Forbes India Since the announcement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to come into effect from July 2017, businesses have been scurrying for cover and are particularly worried about the sweeping nature of reforms that the GST seeks to bring in. Start-ups and SMEs are naturally concerned as they usually don’t have the financial wherewithal to deal with such large-scale changes. India has, of late, seen a boom in the start-up culture, especially in the IT industry. A Nasscom report recently found that India has 3,100 start-ups, the fourth highest internationally. The numbers could go up to as many as 11,500 by 2020. A majority of such start-ups (85 per cent) fail to flourish due to several reasons such as lack of funds, institutional support, etc.

Suzuki starts exporting India-made Gixxer to Japan Financial Express Suzuki Motor Corp.’s Indian unit Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday announced exports of its locally made flagship bike Gixxer to Japan, its home country. “The first consignment of made in India Gixxer motorcycles has already left India for Japanese shores where customers await them,” the company said in a statement. The company exports Gixxer to other countries in Latin America and some surrounding countries, its managing director Satoshi Uchida, said. “We are confident that the Gixxer will be well accepted by Japanese consumer as well,” he added. The Gixxer is powered by a 155cc, single cylinder, air cooled engine with a five-speed gearbox.

DP World takes control of Saint John container terminal Hellenic Shipping News The fourth largest container company in the world, DP World, has officially taken over operations of the west side container terminal at Port Saint John, about six months after a 30-year lease was signed between the port and company. The goal is to grow the business and two massive cranes, now ready for use, are expected to be a big part of that growth. “These cranes will really help us to not only meet the needs of current vessel owners that call the port throughout the tidal range but also be able to work with larger ships. Up to twice or maybe even three times the size of ships that are calling the port today,” said Curtis Doiron, general manager of DP World in Saint John. Doiron believes there is great potential to do even greater things in the port city.

Cosco Shipping in talks to acquire OOCL Seatrade Maritime China Cosco Shipping Corporation Limited (Cosco Shipping) is reportedly a contender to buy Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) in a deal valued at more than $4bn, Wall Street Journal reported. The market has been rifted with speculations that OOCL, the container arm of Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL) could be up for sale amid the ongoing consolidation of the global container shipping sector. The media report wrote that state-owned Cosco Shipping is in the process of preparing a bid valued at more than $4bn to acquire its competitor OOCL. Cosco Shipping Lines, the container arm of Cosco Shipping, and OOCL are members of the Ocean Alliance that is scheduled to start operations in April this year.

Global shipping prices are staging a major comeback and here's why CNBC The CEO of the world's largest shipping firm by capacity has given his unique insight into the rebound seen in global shipping prices in the last few months. Speaking to CNBC Wednesday the World Economic Forum in Davos, Søren Skou, the chief executive officer of Maersk Group, told CNBC on Wednesday the global freight index for container shipping had more than doubled in the last nine months months. "It's simply driven by the fact that the carriers have taken a lot of capacity out of the market," he said. "They are losing significant sums of money every day, and continuing to do that and continuing to do that is simply not sustainable. Today, about 5 percent of the global container fleet is actually idle. That has helped to support prices." "We and others were surprised by the fact global trade not growing nearly as much as one would have expected five years ago."

X-PRESS FEEDERS Annuncement X-Press Feeders are pleased to announce that w.e.f 21st January 2017 we will recommence a weekly service from Far East to Chennai taking slots on ACS service. The service offers weekly calls in the likes of Korea(Pusan), Shanghai, South China (Hong Kong & Yantian) and Manila, and boosts a very good transit time between Straits(Singapore & Port Klang) & East Coast of India (Chennai & Kattupalli).

DAILY SHIPPING NEWS - WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18, 2017

Air Freight News :

Hong Kong ends 2016 with a cargo volume flourish and a 3.2% full year increase.

·         Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) looks set to retain top spot among global airfreight hubs as its 2016 throughput increased by 3.2% year on year to 4.52m tonnes.

The Asian super hub, which saw a double-digit cargo surge in December, is the latest to report a rise in volumes for 2016, although statistics for North American and the major Chinese hubs are still to be logged.

In 2015, Memphis International in the US was in second place to Hong Kong with nearly 4.3m tonnes, versus 4.38m tonnes for the Asian hub.

Latest figures for Memphis, home hub for FedEx, up to October, saw a 0.1% rise in tonnages, which suggests that it will remain below the Hong Kong final figure.

In Europe, Frankfurt saw volumes up 1.8% to 2.15m tonnes, following by a 2.5% rise at Amsterdam Schiphol to 1.66m tonnes and Heathrow was up 3% to 1.54m tonnes. By comparison, Taiwan’s Taipei airport saw volumes down by 6.1% to 1.9m tonnes.

ACT Airlines issues further statement following Kyrgyzstan freighter tragedy.

·         Following the tragic crash, ACT Airlines, which operates as myCargo, has issued a statement naming the crew members that lost their lives and giving more details of about the incident that saw a freighter crash into a village close to Manas Airport, resulting in 37 people losing their lives.

The TC-MCL registered, Boeing 747-400 typed aircraft owned by them, was on route from Hong Kong to Bishkek when it crashed over Kyrgyz airspace approaching Bishkek-Manas Airport on January 16, 2017 at 1:20 GMT time (4:20 am Turkish time).

There is no clear and confirmed information about the reasons for the incident yet. ACT Airlines has commissioned two captain pilots at Manas Airport to investigate the accident together with authorities. Furthermore, their technical staff is on their way to the site.  Also the investigation has started by both, Kyrgyz and Turkish Ministries of Transport and Communication and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation.

ACT are in constant contact with the Ministry of Transport and general directorate of Civil Aviation, Turkish Embassy in Bishkek-Kyrgyzstan, Airport Authority and Kyrgyzstan Civil Aviation Authority. Clear and confirmed information about the accident will be shared with the public when available.

The flight with the cargo from Hong Kong to Bishkek-Istanbul was airborne as planned, after all the checks were carried out, and was on her way approaching Bishkek Airport without encountering any setback or problems during the flight.

The crew rested for 69 hours in Hong Kong before the related flight and checked out for the flight to complete the six-hour flight from Hong Kong to Bishkek.  The airplane was lifted with a planned total of 85,618 kg "general cargo" load safely. There are no faults recorded in the technical log book of the aircraft. We deeply regret for the incident and our heart felt condolences.

Frankfurt records cargo demand improvement in 2016.

·         Europe’s busiest cargo airport, Frankfurt, saw airfreight demand increase by 1.8% in 2016 despite the effect of strikes and weather conditions.

Airport operator Fraport said demand during the year reached 2.15m metric tons despite the number of aircraft movements decreasing by 1.1% to 462,885 takeoffs and landings during the year as a result of Lufthansa strikes in November and adverse weather.

In December, cargo demand was “particularly strong” as it improved by 7.6% to 188,635 metric tons.

Fraport said this improvement was driven by the recovery in world trade and a rise in demand for exports in the Euro zone stimulated by the weak euro, as well as the ongoing dynamic growth of the German economy.

Europe’s fourth largest cargo airport, Heathrow, handled 1.54m tonnes of cargo in 2016, a 3% increase on prior year

Details emerge about SF Express' plans for new Chinese cargo hub.

·         Asia-based express giant SF Express has revealed more details about plans to set up a huge new air cargo airport in central China.

The fast-growing company plans to build the airport in Ezhou City in the Hubei province of central China, according to Asia Times.

The airport will be able to handle 2.6m tonnes of airfreight and 1.5m passengers by 2025.

The airport will be built by a joint venture (JV) made up of SF Express unit SF Airport Investment and China VAST Industrial Urban Development Company, which have initially contributed Y40m and Y60m in the vehicle.

The JV will be responsible for the design, construction and operation of the airport.

According to reports, SF Airport Investment invested around Y470bn in VAST last year.

Asia Times said the companies hope the airport will eventually become the fourth busiest in the world and add that an area responsible for 80% of China’s GDP will be located within two hours flying time

Sea Freight News :

New Inland Waterways Law On Way: Ambitious Water Transport Network A Step Closer Swarajyam In a boost to inland waterways, the government has decided to overhaul the 100-year old Inland Vessel Act. It has been sent to the law ministry for approval and is expected to be introduced in parliament in the summer session. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) chairman Amitabh Verma confirmed that a new law was in the making and stated that details are yet to be finalised. Water transport for long has been a pet project of Union Minister for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. The Inland Waterways Bill was introduced by him in 2016 and was subsequently passed in parliament, declaring 111 rivers are Inland Waterways. The Inland Vessel Act pertains to matters regarding inland water limits, safety of vessels, employment, pollution control and insurance. The proposed law will take into account matters relating to extension of inland water limits, work-sharing between the states and the centre, as well as penalties in the events of accidents.

Service tax set to be hiked in February 1 Budget Asian Age Finance minister Arun Jaitley may choose to hike service tax in the forthcoming Union Budget by one per cent, a move that may boost the government’s revenue collection but will hit the middle class hard while it is still trying to recover from the shock of demonetisation. Service tax of 15 per cent is now imposed on all services except a small negative list. Any increase will push up the prices of mobile services, train and flight tickets, eating out, insurance premiums, cost of under-construction flats and DTH, among many others. Service tax includes the Swachh Bharat and Krishi Kalyan cesses. The idea, sources said, is to bring service tax, now at 15 per cent, closer to the GST rate of 18 per cent. This, they claim, will help in the transition from one tax regime to another. “The proposal is on the table and is being discussed. All pro and cons of changing the tax rate months before the implementation of GST are now being considered,” a source said.

India's Waterways Promise Better Connectivity Break-Bulk Existing infrastructure for transportation of over-dimensional and out-of-gauge cargo in India is inadequate, so the country’s government has embarked on an ambitious plan to boost the use of waterways for project cargo movement. The Indian government’s plans to set up three multimodal transport ports at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia on the River Ganges has gained momentum with works on two of these projects expected to start soon. These hubs – part of the National Waterway-1, or NW-1, plan – will reduce pressure on the rail and road network within the country, and promise to expedite project cargo moves through waterways in the future. This plan addresses the fundamental need to increase the number of inland waterways in India to counter poor road connectivity into the hinterland, given the topographical and geographical challenges in India.

ABG Shipyard in talks with potential buyers India Today Amid reports that Reliance Defence, Shapoorji Pallonji Group and the UKs Liberty House Group have shown interest in buying ABG Shipyard, the debt-ridden company today said it is in discussions with various firms which may be prospective investor. "The company is in discussion with various parties which may be prospective investor. The discussions with them are at a very preliminary stage, only non-disclosure agreement has been entered with few of them," ABG Shipyard informed the BSE. ABG Shipyard was replying in response to the clarifications sought from the bourses on a news item which said that "ABG Shipyard gets three suitors, lenders want it out of debt recast. Reliance Defence, Shapoorji Pallonji Group and the UKs Liberty House have shown preliminary interest". "The company has not received any expression of interest/concrete proposal from their side," ABG Shipyard further informed the bourses.

Standard Chartered concludes three shipping deals worth $1.6bn Seatrade Maritime Standard Chartered has announced the completion of three shipping finance deals in excess of $1.6bn concluded in the third quarter of 2016 for clients in Asia and the Middle East. The three separate deals were done in December, November and October last year for BW Gas JuJu LNG Limited, National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), and subsidiaries of Reliance Group, respectively. In December last year, Standard Chartered closed a $684.5m, up to 12-year non-recourse shipping finance facility for BW Gas JuJu LNG, a joint venture partnership between BW Group and Marubeni. The deal saw the bank led a syndicate of nine international banks to refinance existing credit facilities for eight LNG tankers on long term charters to Nigeria LNG.

Haryana launches scheme to develop ind infra to boost export Business Standard Haryana government has formulated a new scheme known as Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) for the development of industrial infrastructure to boost export from the state. Stating this here today, a spokesman of Industries and Commerce Department said that a notification to this effect has been issued. He said that the objective of the scheme is to create and upgrade the infrastructure for development and growth of exports from the state. The activities would be funded from the scheme provided such activities have an overwhelming export content and their linkage with exports is fully established, he said. "Other such purposes include setting-up of exhibition-cum-convention centre, inland container depot and container freight stations.

With Indian Railways’ traffic receipts set to be flat, Budget 2017 may retain capex plan to ensure expansion Financial Express With traffic receipts falling way short of target in a stuttering economy, Indian Railways will need to aggressively curb its working expenses to produce even the meagre surplus budgeted for FY17. While the transporter’s gross traffic receipts (GTR) grew 5% against a targeted 16% last year, the GTR growth this year could be flat — if not slightly negative — against a modest 10% growth projected. So, to maintain even the estimated grim operating ratio of 92% — which itself was worse than the 90% achieved last year with rigorous cost reduction — the transporter will have to starve the crucial depreciation fund, which is meant for replenishing infrastructure. Alternatively, a decent amount could be earmarked for the depreciation fund and the railways could admit that it is running a deficit.

Must create better experience for customers: Amit Kumar Business Line Historically, the Railways has launched most of its initiatives outside of the Budget and we do not see the next one to be a major departure in that respect. However, one would like to see a reversal of some predominant motifs governing the Railways. For one, freight rates and CTO haulage charges need to be rationalised with reduction in cross-subsidy for passenger traffic. Secondly, organisational discordance must be taken up on top priority with departmentalism reaching levels, never seen before. Every initiative and every idea is rendered infructuous with each department working at cross–purposes. Thirdly, administration of field units needs to be reviewed through a totally different prism. They have become the speed breakers of all initiatives of the Ministry.

Kerala needs to develop export basket on 3Es Business Standard Kerala needs to streamline efforts for developing an export basket containing electronic, electrical, and engineering products for which world demand is growing, according to a study. The study also found that most of the exports from Kerala were from primary and low technology sectors and representation of high value items was minimum. Vegetable products, animals and fish together form about 50 per cent of the exports from the state. The Study report 'Export Competitiveness of Kerala' by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, (KSIDC) and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations(FIEO), was prepared in the context of the state losing its dominance in some of the major agricultural sector exports.It also lists out various new opportunities available to Kerala for MSME focused industrial growth.

CMA CGM upgrades its SEAS1 and SEAS2 services Port News CMA CGM, a leading worldwide shipping group, has upgraded SEAS1 and SEAS2 services, the company said in its press release. The group will thus provide two departures per week between Asia and the East Coast of South America, one of the best offers on the market. They will offer optimum port coverage across Asia (Northern, Central and Southern Chinan and South Korea and South East Asia) and South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay). From South America, CMA CGM will provide very competitive transit times, especially for the export of refrigerated goods from Brazil and Argentina, to Hong Kong, China and South Korea. South America is a strategic area for CMA CGM, which offers 23 services connection the continent to the rest of the world. The group is strengthening its services in the area to match its clients’ needs.

Time for the bunker industry to come clean Hellenic Shipping News In Denmark a former bunker trading CEO is being sent to prison for defrauding his customers, and no one in the industry seems particularly surprised. Last month a court in Denmark named Monjasa as the previously anonymous company fined 10 million Danish kroner ($1.43 million) earlier this year for overcharging a buyer, and former CEO Jan Jacobsen as the executive facing a prison sentence. The case relates to 24 deliveries of fuel oil to a Malaysian customer in 2014, in which the buyer received less product than it had paid for, and Monjasa is still appealing the sentence. But none of this is news to the bunker industry. This is a sector in which buyers are routinely overcharged by sellers. Industry estimates put the losses to overcharging at as much as $1.5 billion/year. If you can generally refuel a truck or a plane without being overcharged, why can’t that be the case for shipowners as well? Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com