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Thursday, July 18, 2019

IOC close to deal for scrubber-equipped VLCC as Indian vessels fail to match criteria

To curb marine pollution, the International Maritime Organization is introducing scrubbers for transporting marine fuels from beginning of 2020

India's top refiner Indian Oil Corp is close to chartering a Panama-flagged ship rather than an Indian vessel in its first tender to hire an oil tanker with scrubbers that remove sulphur emissions, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
In December last year, state-owned IOC issued a global tender and offered Indian shippers a first right of refusal as the nation seeks to boost its shipping industry. India, the world's third biggest oil importer, wants to promote the market share of its vessels in bringing in crude imports.
But it is the Panama-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Bright Pioneer, owned by Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd, that has emerged as the likely winner for a daily rate of $30,000-$32,000, the sources said.
None of the Indian companies could match the bid, they said. ”Indian companies declined the first right of refusal,” said one of the sources.
That will be a blow to the federal shipping ministry, which wants the state-refiners to sign five-year contracts with local shipping firms in a move designed to shift freight worth billions of dollars to Indian flag carriers. They include Shipping Corp of India (SCI), Mercator Ltd, Great Eastern Shipping Co and Essar Shipping .
Indian companies, including SCI, Great Eastern and Seven Island Shipping participated in the IOC tender, the sources said.
The introduction of the scrubbers is important because the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is introducing the rules on marine fuels from the beginning of 2020, limiting the sulphur content to 0.5 percent, down substantially from the current 3.5 percent, to curb shipping pollution.
IOC will be using Bright Pioneer from January for at least five years, giving its Singapore-based operator Global United Shipping Company a period of six months to install the scrubbers.
IOC and Global United Shipping did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comments.
By stripping out sulphur emissions, scrubbers allow shippers to use dirtier fuel oil but still meet new global requirements for lower emissions.
The IMO says that when the new rules come into force it will ban ships that do not have scrubbers from carrying any fuel oil, making it easier to catch cheaters.
The duration of the IOC contract can be extended by another two years to a total of seven.

EAM Jaishankar to Pakistan: Release and repatriate Kulbhushan Jadhav forthwith

A day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to review death penalty to Kulbhushan Jadhav, India on Thursday asked Pakistan to release the former Navy officer forthwith and vowed to vigorously continue efforts to bring him back.
Making a statement in both houses of Parliament on the judgement by the ICJ, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “Pakistan was found to have deprived India of the right to communicate with Jadhav, have access to him, visit him in detention and arrange his legal representation.”
Also read: ICJ orders Pakistan to review Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence
“Kulbhushan Jadhav is innocent of the charges made against him. His forced confession without legal representation and due process will not change this reality,” he said. “We once again call upon Pakistan to release and repatriate him forthwith,” the Minister said.

Govt’s efforts to continue

The ICJ on Wednesday directed Pakistan to suspend the death sentence given in 2017 to Jadhav on charges of espionage and sabotage. “The Government will vigorously continue its efforts to ensure his safety and wellbeing, as well as his early return to India,” Jaishankar said as members cutting across party lines welcomed the landmark judgement by thumping benches.
Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a closed trial in April 2017.
Jaishankar said that the House would recall that Jadhav was awarded a death sentence by a Pakistani military court martial on fabricated charges. This was done without providing Indian representatives consular access to him, as envisaged by international law and practice.
Also read: Kulbhushan Jadhav case timeline
“We made it clear even at that time that India would view very seriously the possibility that an innocent Indian citizen could face death sentence in Pakistan without due process and in violation of basic norms of law and justice,” the minister said.
To ensure Jadhav’s wellbeing and safety and to secure his release, Jaishankar said India approached the ICJ to seek appropriate relief.
“The ICJ delivered its judgement on July 17,2019. Very significantly, the court unanimously found that it had jurisdiction the matter and by a vote of 15-1, pronounced on the other key aspects of the case. “The dissenting judge was from Pakistan,” he said.

ICJ’s verdict

The ICJ pronounced that Pakistan had breached obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. “It did so by not notifying India without delay of the detention of Shri Jadhav, thereby depriving us of the right to render consular assistance,” he said.
Pakistan, he said, was also found to have deprived India of the right to communicate with Jadhav, have access to him, visit him in detention and arrange his legal representation.
“The Court declared that Pakistan is under an obligation to inform Shri Jadhav without further delay of his rights and to provide India consular access to him,” he said. “It stated that appropriate reparation in this case was for Pakistan to provide, by means of its own choosing, review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Shri Jadhav.”
He said a continued say of execution constitutes an “indispensable condition for the process of effective review and reconsideration.”
“Government has made untiring efforts in seeking his release, including through legal means in the International Court of Justice,” he said. “Yesterday’s judgement is not only a vindication for India and Shri Jadhav, but for all those who believe in the rule of law and the sanctity of international treaties.”

India is important for our business, customers throughout the world: CEO of APM Terminals

A P M Terminals, one of the world’s top port operators and a unit of Denmark’s A P Moller-Maersk Group, will look at opportunities on the inland side to grow its business in India and is keen to get the concession for Pipapav port extended beyond 2028, chief executive officer (CEO) Morten Engelstoft, said in an interview. Excerpts.

How will the Government’s move to convert major port trusts into port authorities benefit private firms investing in these ports?

It does seem like the Government intends to do away with the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) and that is definitely something we welcome. It is an important step towards a more market-driven pricing for the (major) ports. The legislation is yet to be passed by Parliament. So, I think we should wait for that to happen first.

APMT-run Gateway Terminals at JNPT has been one of the worst hit by the rate setting guidelines of 2005 which was recently updated by the Government. Do the new norms give you the confidence to withdraw from the court cases?

It's a course, an ongoing case, and therefore, I think it is somewhat improper for me to comment until the current legal process has run its course.

So, are you still not convinced of the new rate norms to pull out from the court case that was filed against the rate cut of 2012 ordered by TAMP?

We do see it as a step in the right direction. It does seem like a good way to find a solution and we consider that to be positive.

…. but not to the extent of retracting from the litigation?

As long as there's no firm outcome, then we would actually wish to see the conclusion before we can comment on it. So, for now, we see it as a good step. We see it as a positive indication and we also know that there's still some developments that needs to happen.

Your two existing facilities are located on India’s western coast. Are you looking at expanding your terminal presence in India, particularly on India’s eastern coast?

Not at this stage. We are pleased with the two facilities that we have and right now the focus is to stay on with those two facilities. As a company, we are now more focused on investments into other parts of the supply chain on the inland side, in logistics, and facilitating a better customer experience throughout the supply chain. So, at this stage, we are not working on any projects on the eastern coast.

To boost your hinterland presence, are you looking at acquisitions?

Overall, India is an important country for APM Terminals with good growth potential. It’s a country where we would like to continue to invest and serve our customers better. We actually have quite an extensive set-up on the inland side. We have seven different facilities that we are running here today. Last year, we opened our new cold chain facility in Chennai. We have had other additions to the product catalog to draw customers. We will continue to look at opportunities on the inland side.

Have you given up on exiting from Pipavav port with the concession set to end in 2028?

In general, we are pleased with the activities at Pipavav. The nature of our businesses is such that the concession eventually will run out. But certainly, it is our expectation and our intention to also have the concession extended when time comes.

So, you are keen to continue beyond 2028?

We are definitely keen to get the concession extended. We are happy with our activities. It's good business. As I said, India is not only an important part for our business, but for many of our customers throughout the world. So, absolutely, we will be keen to continue our activities and the concession at Pipavav.

PSA International had recently hauled you to India’s anti-trust regulator alleging unfair practices at JNPT.

We believe that we have a competitive terminal at JNPT which our customers prefer. We have the most productive terminal in the market which handled more than two million TEUs in FY19. That is what we focus on. I'm not going to comment on an ongoing case. All I can say is that we are focusing on serving our customers at our facility and we do that quite well.

Shipping Ministry to focus on training more seafarers: Minister

Published on 18 th july 2019.

Creating job potential by increasing the number of seafarers will be one of the priority areas for the Shipping Ministry, said Mansukhlal Mandaviya, Minister of Shipping (Independent Charge).
While interacting with reporters here on Tuesday, he said another focus area for the ministry will be implementing international best practices at Alang ship-breaking yard.
Mandaviya noted that during the last five years, the number of seafarers had increased from 92,000 to two lakh. Seafarers earn in dollars, and they can work in various capacities in a ship, including in the kitchen.
He said there is scope to retrain several people, located along the coast, as seafarers.
Already, the Shipping Ministry had made the maritime training institutes responsible for providing practical training to seafarers.
It had also relaxed some conditions to make available more vessel slots to train aspiring students.
Globally, India is one of the top suppliers for seafarers, after the Philippines and China.
Mandaviya also stressed on the need to improve best practices at Alang ship-repair facility, another high employment generation sector. Alang, located near Bhavnagar in Gujarat, has high tides which give it a natural advantage to be a ship-repair yard.
Globally, there has been a call to improve the working condition of workers engaged in ship-repair, particularly from environmental groups in Asian countries, including India and Bangladesh.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Commerce and Industry minister reviews draft National Logistics Policy .

PUNE: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, reviewed the draft National Logistics Policy and the proposed action plan for implementation of the policy prepared by the Department of Logistics, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The draft National Logistics Policy has been prepared in consultation with the Ministries of Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Civil Aviation. Forty-six Partnering Government Agencies (PGAs) inputs were analysed in detail f ..

consideration in the Policy.

Commerce and Industry Minister in his opening remarks urged that all the four Ministries and their departments must leverage existing infrastructure to support each other in the logistics chain. This will not only help in maximizing capacity utilization but also reduce costs he added.

Piyush Goyal directed that all four Ministries must work in coordination with each other so that the 14% logistics cost of India’s GDP may be brought down to 9%. In th ..

In the meeting all aspects of logistics related to railways, civil aviation, shipping and inland waterways, road transport, rope-ways warehousing and cold chain were discussed in detail.

Piyush Goyal exhorted the line Ministries that all efforts must be made for farm produce of food grains, fruits and vegetables to reach from farm to market with minimum wastage of time. He also said that a central scheme for cold chain across the country especially for fruits, vegetables and perishable ..

During the review meeting issues relating to rail freight rationalization and freight policy for Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), having immediate implications for modal shift,were discussed at length.

Commerce and Industry Minister also directed that whenever any new road, railway, airport and shipping port project is being considered the Logistics Department must be a part of consultation process so that holistic planning will be possible, freight movement will be rationalized and pa ..

India’s logistics sector is highly de-fragmented and the aim is to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14% of GDP to less than 10% by 2022. India’s logistics sector is very complex with more than 20 government agencies, 40 PGAs, 37 export promotion councils, 500 certifications, 10000 commodities, 160 billion market size. It also involves 12 million employment base, 200 shipping agencies, 36 logistic servicesNSE -1.56 %, 129 ICDs, 168 CFSs, 50 IT ecosystems and banks & insurance agencies further 81 authorities and 500 certificates are required for exim.

Further, 81 authorities and 500 certificates are required for EXIM.

As per the Economic Survey 2017-18, the Indian logistics sector provides livelihood to more than 22 million people and improving the sector will facilitate 10 % decrease in indirect logistics cost leading to the growth of 5 to 8% in exports. Further, the Survey estimates that the worth of Indian logistics market would be around USD 215 billion in next two years, compared to about USD 160 billion currently .

India seeks to buy $2.2 billion warships to meet China challenge

India sought bids for purchase of warships and support vessels for its navy and coast guard as it ramps up security of its maritime border in the Indian Ocean region.

The Narendra Modi government on Monday asked seven shipyards to submit proposals for the construction of six missile warships and other smaller vessels worth 150 billion rupees ($2.2 billion), the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. The tender includes eight fast patrol vessels, 12 hovercrafts and eight missile-cum-am ..

Prices of cardamom, Queen of Spices, soar as wild weather wipes Indian production

NEW DELHI - Every year, tens of millions of Hindus flock to the Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh to pay tribute to site's patron deity and pick up some of its famous sweets, the legendary "Tirupati laddu".

The traditional delicacy is baked with sugar, flour, ghee, nuts and raisins and studded with cardamom, which has surged in price this year as India's erratic weather ravages production of the pod, known as "the Queen ..