Bangladesh to allow Indian Transhipment goods without Custom Duties & Transit Fees from Jan 2020

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh will allow transhipment of Indian goods via Chittagong and Mongla sea ports from January without charging Customs Duties and Transit fees.

The decision, considered a new phase in connectivity between the two countries, was agreed upon when Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Md. Abdus Samad met his Indian counterpart Gopal Krishna at the Shipping Secretary-level talks in Dhaka recently.

Earlier, the Standard Operating Procedures to allow transhipment of Indian goods to and fro from landlocked North-Eastern States was agreed upon during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Delhi in October.

The move will give further push to India's Act East policy by connecting North-Eastern States with SE Asia.

Bangladesh expects that such connectivity between the countries will open up greater economic opportunities, strengthen infrastructure and boost business, according to Dhaka-based officials.

“We are yet to decide the date of the first trial run, but it is likely to be in January next year. A container cargo is likely to operate either through Chittagong Port or Mongla Port to the Indian State of Tripura through the Agartala and Akhaura river routes,” said Abdus Samad.

Customs fees are not applicable as it is a bilateral agreement between the two countries. But India will pay duties and taxes as per Bangladesh's tariff schedule for ports. It will also pay fees for using roads in line with the policy of the Bangladesh Road and Highways Division, officials said.

Seven routes have been suggested for the movement of goods and passenger vessels between

North-Eastern States and two ports. These include Chittagong Port or Mongla Port to Agartala via Akhaura; Chittagong or Mongla Port to Dawki via Tamabil; Chittagong or Mongla Port to Sutarkandi via Sheola; and Chittagong or Mongla to Bibekbazar via Simantapur.

Meanwhile, passengers travelling on cruise ships to India and Bangladesh will get on-arrival visas at the ports.

It may be recalled that operations of cruise ships from Narayanganj (Bangladesh) to Kolkata began on a trial basis in March this year.

MSC continues to invest in Low-Carbon Future: operating modern, green fleet

GENEVA: MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, a global leader in transportation moving 21 million containers per year, remains committed in investing in its green and efficient fleet via the largest container shipping investment program in the industry.

MSC operates a modern, green fleet and is investing heavily in low-carbon technologies and extensive new-build and retrofit programmes to boost performance and minimise our environmental impact.

MSC’s fleet improvement program has resulted in a 13% reduction in CO2 emissions per transport work in 2015-18 and will help the container shipping industry make progress towards the United Nations International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2030 CO2 targets.

A combination of the latest green technologies and greater economies of scale have helped reduce energy requirements over time. MSC has increased average capacity per ship from 2,500 TEU in 2003 to 6,500 TEU in 2018, which is significantly higher than the average market figures. With the introduction of the Gülsün Class vessels, MSC is further improving our environmental performance as bigger ships generally emit less CO2 per container carried, helping companies which move goods on MSC’s services to lower the carbon footprint of their supply chains.

The latest newbuilding additions to the fleet – led by  MSC Gülsün, the largest container ship in the World – has introduced a new class of sustainable container shipping, with the lowest carbon footprint by design, at 7.49 grams of CO2 emissions to move 1 ton of cargo 1 nautical mile.

MSC Gülsün features a remarkable approach to energy efficiency with the shape of the bow designed to enhance energy efficiency by reducing hull resistance. State-of-the-art engineering minimises wind resistance, resulting in lower fuel consumption.

To comply with an upcoming marine fuel regulation in 2020, the ship is also equipped with a UN IMO-approved hybrid Exhaust Gas Cleaning System and has the option of switching to low-Sulphur fuel, or to be adapted for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the future.

Chinese Port influence overhyped : Drewry

LONDON: Global expansion and influence by Chinese port companies is not as significant as the hype that surrounds it, a maritime consultancy has said.
Continued media coverage has ensured Chinese port players remain a Major Port sector topic, but their growth figures have had less of an impact than the scrutiny that fuels interest in their movements, suggests Drewry.
Speaking during Drewry’s latest ports and terminals market briefing, Neil Davidson, Senior Analyst, Port and Terminals, said that data showed that Chinese operators have gained their strongest market shares in Europe and central America, but haven’t made significant progress in South America or Asia.
“It’s not easy to find the right opportunities,” Mr Davidson said, adding Chinese companies are paying a premium
but are competing with other operators. “There have been some major acquisitions but the global container market is a big one.”
Looking at the Belt and Road initiative, he observed that the focus is now more on domestic consolidation due to perceived disorganisation in the country’s ports market.
China Cosco Shipping and CMP have recorded average equity TEU  growth rates of 11% and 9% per annum since 2013. This is largely due to organic growth and M&A activity. Hutchinson has fared less well, seeing its volumes plateau in recent years due to its Hong Kong base.

Slow growth continues

Overall in the market, this is the sixth consecutive quarter of slower growth and port sector trading is at its lowest P/E valuation in five years. However, there are new port projects being developed and these have a strong focus on logistics and landside distribution.

Nitin Gadkari updates on progress of Bharatmala Project

NEW DELHI:  The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has informed the Parliament that Government of India had approved Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I in October, 2017 with an aggregate length of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches) at an estimated outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 crore for development of about 9,000 km length of Economic corridors, about 6,000 km length of Inter-corridor and feeder roads, about 5,000 km length of National Corridors Efficiency improvements, about 2,000 km length of Border and International connectivity roads, about 2,000 km length of Coastal and port connectivity roads, and about 800 km length of Expressways.
 Total of 255 road projects with an aggregate length of about 10,699 km have been approved till October, 2019 under Bharatmala Pariyojana with total Cost of Rs. 2,64,916 crore approximately. Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I is targeted for completion by 2021-22.

isakhapatnam Port records 10 % growth in cargo throughput in current fiscal so far

VISAKHAPATNAM: Beating the economy slowdown and adverse market conditions, the Visakhapatnam Port Trust has recorded 10% growth rate, the highest among Major Ports during the current fiscal.
The port, which was operational way back in 1933, has also overtaken the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in handling cargo as per the latest figures. “We are confident of handling 70 million tonne by March 31 to improve our ranking from fourth to third among the Major Ports,”VPT Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh has said recently.
As on December 3, the port handled a throughput of 47.66 million tonne as against 43.14 million tonne during the corresponding period last year registering an incremental volume of 4.52 million tonne.
Incidentally, all the ports put together have achieved a marginal growth rate. If the trend continues, the VPT will occupy the third slot after Kandla and Paradip. During the last fiscal, the VPT handled 65.30 million tonne. The previous best cargo handled by the port was 68.04 million tonnes in 2010-11.

Major Ports’ handles 463.07 million tonnes cargo during April-Nov Period : IPA

NEW DELHI: Cargo volume handled by the Country’s top 12 ports was marginally up by 0.34 per cent at 463.07 million tonnes during the April-November period this year, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

The ports had handled 461.48 MT of cargo during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. The ports are Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V.O. Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

While the handling of iron ore saw a 30.24 per cent jump to 33.95 MT to during the period, thermal coal shipments declined by 17.82 per cent to 58.17 MT, the IPA data showed.

The 12 ports had handled 26.07 MT of iron ore and 70.79 MT of coal during the April-November period of the previous fiscal.

Handling of coking and other coal rose by 1.95 per cent to 37.17 MT during the eight months as compared with 36.45 MT of coking coal handled in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Finished fertiliser volumes jumped 24.08 per cent during the period but raw fertiliser volumes declined by 3.12 per cent.

Containers recorded a growth of 3.36 per cent in terms of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

According to the figures, Deendayal Port handled the highest traffic volume at 82.20 MT during the April-November period, followed by Paradip at 73.25 MT, Visakhapatnam at 47.05, JNPT at 44.93 MT, Kolkata (including Haldia) at 41.25 MT, and Mumbai at 40.88 MT. Chennai Port handled 32.14 MT of cargo, while New Mangalore handled 24.17 MT.

The volume of seaborne cargo is essentially in the nature of derived demand and is mainly shaped by the levels and changes in both global and domestic activity.

 

NYK Group Companies recognized at 13th Environmental Management Conference

TOKYO: In the NYK’s 13th Environmental Management Conference in Tokyo, two companies were recognized for their improvement of company value on November 25. The two — Nippon Yuka Kogyo Co. Ltd. and MTI Co. Ltd.— were selected from among 39 domestic NYK Group companies.

NYK holds this conference once a year with NYK Group companies to share information on environmental practices and strengthen environmental management. The two recognized group companies were highly commended for connecting their environmental measures to their business activities. Details of the measures are provided below.

Nippon Yuka Kogyo Co. Ltd.

Activity: Developed Yunic 800VLS, a new fuel-oil additive.

Details: A low-sulphur compliant fuel-oil that meets the 2020 SOx cap and disperses asphaltene and paraffin (wax), which can foul the fuel tank. Japan’s first additive for very low sulfur fuel oil can suppress sludge formation and contribute to reducing environmantal loads as well as fostering safe operation.

MTI Co. Ltd.

Activity: Installed MT-FAST, a fuel-saving device jointly developed with Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Company, on 500 vessels.

Details: MT-FAST is a multi-blade device that can be attached to a ship’s hull to improve the propeller's propulsion efficiency.

The conference participants were also captivated by a presentation by Yukihiro Misawa of the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan) who spoke about plastic pollution at sea.

On the opportunity of this presentation, NYK decided to donate to WWF Japan to support its efforts to address climate change and plastic pollution at sea.

NYK will continue to enhance its activities to reduce the environmental impact of the entire NYK Group, and will make an effort to achieve the medium- to long-term environmental targets for to the sustainable development of society and enrichment of the group’s corporate value.