Maersk India sees 43% hike in containerised rail export cargo in 2021

These rail services were designed in such a way that different industrial verticals were to be connected to the ports. Examples of these were the ‘Automotive Express’ running between the Northern Capital Region’s (NCR) automotive manufacturing hub and the port of APM Terminals Pipavav, Gujarat or the ‘Retail Express’ that ran on DFC to give assured transit time to lifestyle and apparels sector. The benefits of dedicated solutions like ‘Retail Express’ were multi-fold – customers could reduce their inventory hold by almost 10 per cent and were able to connect to ocean transportation leg in time, saving them penalty costs too, Maersk India said in a press release.

“Being committed to connecting and simplifying our customers’ supply chains meant we had to go beyond solutions that are on the menu card. We wanted to create exciting offerings that would delight our customers, especially in the tough pandemic situation that we have been operating in,” Vikash Agarwal, managing director, Maersk South Asia.

“Having flagged off 13 new services successfully over the year, Maersk is truly proud to have designed and implemented what customers needed. And it doesn’t end there! With the new environment-friendly rail services, in 2021 we reduced carbon footprint that is equivalent to the emissions from a car being driven for around 60,000 km,” Agarwal added.

“Unlocking the potential of rail solutions to move cargo during the toughest times of the pandemic has been hugely satisfying. To be able to play a role in developing tailor-made solutions for customers which ultimately helped the traders in the country connect to the global market was even more gratifying,” Akshyat Bhatia, head of landside transportation, Maersk South Asia.

“Maersk plans to develop further on the foundation of the rail solutions in 2022. Rail has always been considered as a second alternative to road transport despite being safer and faster. Last year, we created 273 new corridors with rail as the backbone and connected our customers on this highly efficient mode of logistics all the way to their hubs of convenience. Having carried more than 50,000 containers (twenty feet equivalent units / TEUs) over and above the previous year and having covered 150,000 km, we are confident of building on this solution in the coming years too,” Jyoti Mitter, rail product manager, Maersk South Asia.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)