The carrier’s latest effort around that pro-customer approach is a multi-modal end-to-end containerized cargo provision – involving truck, rail, and barge services – for a last-mile delivery from West India to Mongla Port in Bangladesh. Mongla is Bangladesh’s busiest cargo gateway after Chittagong Port. In conjunction with India’s public rail company, the Container Corporation of India (Concor), the carrier set up the first such train trip from the Nagpur ICD to Kolkata Port. This multimodal solution is designed to improve transit time, reduce supply chain inefficiencies, and lead time, promote sustainability and cost efficiency. The unique cross-border offering is a step further towards Maersk’s expanding multimodal profile in the Indian market as it works to meet trade expectations on service levels.
To that end, the carrier has in recent months begun to concentrate on fielding block train services that provide significant transit time benefits for shippers, compared with typical mixed train trips designed on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) model. Concor noted that a successful pilot run should encourage Maersk to make regular similar multimodal bookings for destinations in Bangladesh and other East Asian nations. Concor expects to add many more customers and commodities for this stream soon as there is regular export of cargo like transmission tower parts, tractors, cotton yarn, food grains etc. to Bangladesh by various exporters in Nagpur and nearby areas. The latest Maersk-Concor logistics tie-up comes on the heels of a 100-cargo-terminal development programme, announced as part of the Indian government’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2022-23.