Bahri wins ‘Investment in People’ Award at Seatrade Maritime Awards MEISA 2019 September 27 , 2019

DUBAI: Reinforcing its pre-eminent position in the maritime industry, Bahri, a Global leader in logistics and transportation, has received the ‘Investment in People’ award at Seatrade Maritime Awards Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa 2019, held as part of UAE Maritime Week 2019, which took place under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai.

Hisham Alkhaldi, Chief Support Officer at Bahri, accepted the award on behalf of the company at a ceremony hosted on 22 September 2019 at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah Resort, which attracted several policymakers, business leaders, industry experts, and professionals.

Abdullah Aldubaikhi, CEO of Bahri, said: “At Bahri, we strive to pursue excellence in our business in line with our commitment to creating value for our customers.

We are immensely proud that the prestigious award at the region’sleading maritime award program comes as an endorsement for our endeavors. I would like to dedicate this achievement to our people whose sincerity and hard work have enabled the company to go from strength to strength.”

The ‘Investment in People’ Award comes as a recognition for Bahri’s efforts aimed at the professional and personal growth and development of its over 3,000 employees across the globe. The company has established itself as one of the most attractive places to work by enabling its employees to realize their full potential through a broad spectrum of programs and initiatives.

NYK conducts Japan’s first Carbon-neutral Voyage September 20 , 2019

TOKYO: NYK has become the first Japanese shipping company to realize a carbon-neutral voyage by offsetting 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), equivalent to the CO2 emitted by NYK’s environmental flagship car carrier Aries Leader during one voyage between Japan and the Middle East.

Aries Leader is equipped with the latest energy-saving technologies, reducing CO2 emissions per unit by 30% compared with existing large pure car carriers (i.e., comparing emissions on a per car basis). In this initiative, the remaining CO2 emissions not yet eliminated by technology have been offset by carbon credits to allow NYK to realize carbon-neutral transportation that theoretically reduces CO2 emissions to zero.

This initiative demonstrates the ability of NYK to provide carbon-neutral transportation to its Japanese and overseas customers, thus meeting the demand for a more sustainable, carbon-free supply chain. NYK will propose and expand its carbon offsets to customers as an option that benefits the environment and contributes to a zero-carbon-footprint supply chain.

The company will continue its efforts to provide shipping services that meet customer needs, as well as create new green businesses through carbon credit initiatives and realize the company's basic philosophy of “Bringing value to life.”

 

JBS Academy celebrates Teacher's Day with Teachers and Industry Veterans September 20 , 2019

AHMEDABAD: JBS Academy Pvt. Ltd. celebrated Teachers Day at their campus on September 5, wherein esteemed faculty members were honored. The event was also attended by eminent personalities like Sudhir Goyal, MD of Shri Durga Crane Company, CS Jignesh A. Shah and Dr. Bhasker A. Shukla Principal, Vivekanand College of Commerce - Ahmedabad, Mr. Samir Mankad ED GSEC; Mr. Rathod and Mr. Kiyamuddin from Centre for Entrepreneurship Development GOG.

Faculty members and dignitaries discussed future initiatives that the academy can contribute to the society and ways on engaging more professionals to contribute as teachers to meet the rising demand.

Since inception, over 800 certificate and diploma students of JBS Academy are currently working in various capacities in the industry. The institute has conducted over 300 bespoke programs attended by 1800+ industry people, students, academicians and policy makers in over 10 cities other than Ahmedabad.

“We must resolve to take the study in logistics further to meet the rising demand expected in the coming days. Being a training institute, our endeavour must be to constantly try to address the problem at its root and frame a proper structure of the needs and demands of the sector through a carefully assessed curriculum. On Teachers Day, I send my best wishes to all my students and hope they live up to the expectation,” said Mr. Samir J. Shah, Director and Mentor, JBSAPL.

The institute has strived to march steadily towards its goal by promoting excellence in academics, continuous research on industry needs, strong industry relations, domain expert faculty and required affiliations. The academy has partnered with the various organizations formed under Center and State Government including NSDC, LSC, GCVT etc. which have been set-up with a mandate to catalyse the skills landscape in India.

“Under the guidance of Mr. Samir J. Shah, it has been an enriching experience teaching at JBS Academy. Sharing the technical knowhow with the students has reflected in the performance of all our students,” said Mr. S.V. Modi, Sr. Faculty member with Academy.

Container Shipping’s oligopoly status helping to stabilise rates : SeaIntelligence September 20 , 2019

LONDON: Following a period of deep consolidation that resulted in just three main alliances – namely THE Alliance, Ocean Alliance, and 2M – the boxship market has reached an oligopoly status, especially on the major trade lanes, according to Lars Jensen, CEO of SeaIntelligence Consulting.

“We have seen, over the last few years, the emergence of oligopoly and carriers are finally figuring out how consolidation can stabilise the market,” Jensen told delegates at an event recently. “The volatility of freight rates has declined but that does not necessarily mean higher rates – just more stabilised,” he observed.

Jensen added that the market can also expect global demand growth to enter a “new norm” of 2-3%, and container shipping can forget about the multiplier effect linked for each percentage of GDP growth.

Demand growth is expected to be in the range of 1-1.5% this year, following negative growth registered in December 2018, and January-February 2019. Moreover, the demand growth is not evenly distributed, with Europe being a more positive market both for import and export, while North America has been volatile and may experience negative demand growth in the next few years.

 “Europe will be the main driver for demand growth this year. The good thing is that the market is now having record low orderbook and the installation of scrubbers is pulling some capacity out of the market,” Jensen said.

“We are looking at 2% capacity growth in 2019 and probably into 2020 as well,” he said.

In addition, carriers have looked into a more structured and systematic approach to blank sailings, contributing to better managing capacity.

And while the sizes of ships are getting bigger, that process has been accompanied by a decline in the number of services as well as the consolidation effect leading to ‘less’ number of shipping lines.

“If we looked back at three to four years ago, carriers were looking at growth via fleet expansion and widening of market share. This has changed. Today, it is about looking at how to manage capacity and the stabilisation of financing,” he said.

FICCI welcomes measures to boost exports September 17 , 2019

NEW DELHI: Welcoming the package of new measures for boosting exports and the housing sector announced by Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, FICCI President Mr Sandip Somany said, "These new measures will provide much-needed stimulus to boost the Indian economy that is now facing the slowdown".

Mr Somany expressed confidence that the new initiatives of export-related incentives, finance, credit and facilitation will help in achieving a turnaround in our exports which have declined by 6% in August. "The new scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) that will be effective from 1 January 2020 will go a long way in addressing the problem of non-compliance of our export promotion scheme. Fully automated electronic refund module for Input Tax Credits (ITC) in GST will speed up the ITC refund and ease the problem of working capital for exporters. Expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme, moderation in premium incidence for MSME, and revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Export Credit are also encouraging features of the new package," said Mr Soman

Government announces much needed booster for exports sector during such challenging times: FIEO September 17 , 2019

NEW DELHI: Welcoming the much needed booster for the exports sector, FIEO President, Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the announcement made by the Hon'ble Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has come at a time when there are signs of worsening global economic conditions pointing further toward downward revision of global trade growth. Slew of new measures announced for the exports sector in the form of incentives & refund of taxes, export finance, export facilitation, free trade agreements, engineering and handicrafts will not only go a long way in enhancing the growth prospects of the sector in the short-term but will also give it a much needed boost in the medium-term and long-term  and will stimulate the overall economy added Mr Saraf.

 FIEO Chief said that the new scheme of Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) with revenue burden of up to Rs 50,000 crores for the Government, will completely replace all Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2020 with the expectation that the new scheme will more than adequately incentivize the exporters than the existing schemes put together. The new scheme looks attractive as it will neutralise all duties and levies suffered by the export products. Giving three months lead time till 31st December to the existing MEIS will remove the uncertainty creeping in the minds of the exporters and will greatly help to finalise their export orders, Mr Saraf said. Further fully electronic refund module for quick and automated refund of ITC by September, 2019 will help the exporting community in not only speedy and timely refund of their GST but will also help them in getting their long pending refund of their ITC thereby mitigating their working capital requirements, said Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf.

Mr Saraf stated that besides measures taken to improve credit outflows from banks and transmission of interest rate cuts being effected by banks will go a long way in improving the cost and availability of credit, as the flow of credit to this sector has been under pressure since long. Expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ESIC) by ECGC will enable reduction in overall cost of export credit including interest rates especially for MSMEs. The scheme will provide much needed support for the exporters for exporting to countries with little or more risks reiterated FIEO President.

Announcement on the revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for export  credit, will release an additional Rs. 36,000 crore to Rs. 68,000 crore as export credit along with an active monitoring by an inter-ministerial working group in the Department of Commerce, tracked through a dashboard will also help in keeping track of the overall export financing for the sector added FIEO Chief.

Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf also said that leveraging technology to reduce turnaround time at ports and airports through seamless digitization process of export clearances is also a welcome step, which will further reduce transaction cost and time. Holding of annual mega shopping festivals like Dubai Shopping Festival to will not only boost exports but will also help in creating value for Brand India products from labour-intensive sectors like Gems & Jewellery, Handicrafts, Yoga, Tourism and Textiles.

President FIEO said that online "Original Managment System" for exporters will enable them to obtain Certificates of Origin, which is further expected to improve ease of doing business for exporters. Time-bound adoption of mandatory technical standards will not only elevate quality and performance, enhance competitiveness and address issue of sub-standard imports but will also give boost to Indian products overcoming non-tariff barriers. Besides initiative on affordable testing and certification infrastructure will reduce cost of adoption of standards and certification for meeting international standards under different FTAs. Enabling handicrafts to effectively harness e-commerce for exports has come as a special facilitating tool for the artisans to sell their products globally.

And last but not the least, FIEO Chief is of the view that announcement on the FTA utilization mission headed by senior officials from Department of Commerce will be set up and will work with FIEO and other export houses to utilize concessional tariff in each FTA. The initiative which was one of the demand of the Federation will be able to enhance awareness of preferential duty benefits MSMEs and disseminate and facilitate compliance requirements under FTAs for both importers and exporters.

MOL starts test of Vessel Image Recognition System using AI Technology

TOKYO: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced the joint development, along with SenseTime Japan Ltd., of a new vessel image recognition and recording system, and the system’s installation for demonstration testing aboard the cruise ship “Nippon Maru” operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Line, Ltd. The system’s graphic recognition engine was developed by incorporating MOL’s knowledge and applying artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning technology, allowing it to recognize surrounding vessels. The system recognizes and automatically records vessels with high accuracy using a terminal equipped with a graphic processing unit (GPU) and ultrahigh-resolution cameras.

The image recognition technology, which can be used even at night or during other periods of poor visibility, can detect small vessels (International treaty and domestic law require vessels to be equipped with AIS, but the regulations do not apply to ocean-going freighters of less than 300 gross tonnes and coastal vessels of less than 500 gross tonnes) that are not recognizable by vessel automatic identification systems (AIS). MOL views advanced image recognition as an underlying technology needed for automated watch-keeping, as the company works to realize the autonomous smart ships of the future.

Since this system automatically records image data, MOL plans to carefully review the accumulated data and use it to further enhance the image recognition engine’s analysis accuracy.

MOL positions the navigation support system featuring image recognition, such as the AR voyage information display system , which is already in practical use, as part of its challenge project, called the “FOCUS EYE” series. The company continues to develop and modify the system, which supports crewmembers’ watch-keeping while underway, to enhance safe operation and speed up the automation of watch-keeping, with the long-term goal of realizing autonomous smart ships, said a MOL release.