Growing Volumes

The Cargo consolidator has been growing at a fast clip on the back of its innovative business model.

- P.B. Jayakumar

Abdul Khalik Chataiwala, Chairman and Managing Director of Lancer Container Lines, decided to start a container logistics business in 2011, after more than a decade in international trade. “I had very close connections in logistics business and hands on experience. These were key deciding factors while making the shift,” says Chataiwala, who has a diploma in Export-Import Management from India International Trade Centre and an MBA in Shipping from the Adam Smith University, Saipan, USA.

Lancer Container owns and provides containers to companies for international movement of cargo and offers allied services such as shipping and freight forwarding, providing yards for storage of empty containers, inland transport service, etc. Its core operation, however, is of what is called a nonvessel operating common carrier (NVOCC), a cargo consolidator that does not own a vessel but acts as a legal carrier by accepting responsibilities of a carrier that issues its own bills of landing or airway bills.