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The trial for Hanjin Shipping Co. customers may be ending but it's still going for sailors on the foundering company's ships. U.S. immigration officials are barring crews aboard vessels docked at American ports from coming ashore, WSJ Logistics Report's Erica E. Phillips writes, a decision labor groups say goes against international seafarers' conventions. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says it is denying shore leave out of concern the sailors won't return to their ships. The human ordeal on the vessels is part of the chaos that has spread through the shipping industry since Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection in late August. While a court in South Korea tries to determine Hanjin's future, the company's shipping customers and cargo service providers are working to untangle supply chains that have been caught up in legal and operating confusion. In the meantime, the sailors on Hanjin ships may still be weeks from setting foot on land.

A boom in rail construction in East Africa is giving the region's exporters better access to global markets. The completion of a new Chinese-funded railway linking Ethiopia's capital to neighboring Djibouti is one of the most prominent of the projects, the WSJ's Nicholas Bariyo reports, and authorities in the land-locked country are hoping the direct access to a seaport will provide a new boost to Ethiopia's economy. The $4 billion project has been underway as neighboring Kenya has been working on a $3.8 billion project, also backed by China, to build a railway from the Port of Mombasa to Nairobi and on to other East African capitals. The big winners in the 435-mile Ethiopian rail line will be agriculture producers, including coffee growers. Ethiopia is Africa's largest coffee producer, and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti line will run directly through the coffee-growing hub of Adama on a path to the Port of Djibouti, giving exporters a faster route to foreign buyers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering making a big move in India's lively and highly competitive e-commerce market . The retailer is weighing an investment in Flipkart Ltd., India's largest online marketplace by sales, the WSJ reports, an action aimed at boosting Wal-Mart's profile in a market that has long eluded the company. It would also give Flipkart needed capital and a partner in its battle against Amazon.com Inc. over online sales in the South Asian nation. Amazon and other Western companies have turned to India as China's economy slows, but expansion there has been problematic. Although the potential market is large, tough local regulations and poor logistics remain major hurdles. Only about 4% of India's population regularly shops online, and several startups have faltered in the fierce and fund-sapping competition for business. The investment advances Wal-Mart's broader strategic drive by putting its money behind e-commerce growth.

E-COMMERCE

Germany's Deutsche Post DHL Group is trying to complete an e-commerce distribution map for Europe . The parcel delivery giant will acquire UK Mail Group for $315.5 million, the WSJ's Natascha Divac and Ulrike Dauer report, bolstering its presence in one of Europe's biggest online markets at a time of booming orders for clothes, household goods and other merchandise. It also marks the latest in a series of moves that are redrawing Europe's package delivery landscape. FedEx Corp. this year acquired Dutch package-delivery company TNT Express, taking over the operator's European ground delivery network, and Deutsche Post took a stake in France's Relais Colis to strengthen its presence in Europe's third-largest e-commerce market. Deutsche Post says UK Mail, which delivers letters and parcels, gives the company a strong profile in the Germany, U.K. and France, three countries that account for a combined 60% of Europe's e-commerce sales.

QUOTABLE

IN OTHER NEWS

OPEC ministers reached an understanding that a cut in crude-oil production is needed to lift petroleum prices, but they put off until November attempts to tackle a supply glut. (WSJ)

Orders for capital goods excluding aircraft and defense grew 0.6% in August, the third straight monthly increase for a category that roughly approximates business investment. (WSJ)

BlackBerry Ltd. will stop making its devices to focus on software, outsourcing its hardware work and pulling out of the bruising global smartphone race. (WSJ)

Nearly three years after merging with US Airways, American Airlines Group Inc. faces a major challenge this weekend as it transitions to a single flight operating system. (WSJ)

Swiss watch company executives are strongly pessimistic about business prospects as demand in key foreign markets wanes. (WSJ)

Wal-Mart is considering offering a fulfillment services with its online marketplace to compete with Fulfillment by Amazon. (Internet Retailer)

Autonomous-truck company Otto wants companies to use its vehicles to replace freight brokers. (Reuters)

Amazon wants to build a 1 million--square-foot distribution center in Northeast France, near Amiens. (Le Figaro)

Boeing Co. signed an agreement with Morocco to establish an aerospace production hub in the country. (Agence France-Presse)

Google Express is expanding its delivery coverage to 13 more states. (New Haven Register)

An investment arm of Finland's government is backing research into autonomous freight ships. (MarineLink)

Textile mills in India are slashing yarn production because of a drop in cotton prices. (Yarns and Fibers)

India's ports will discount vessel-related charges by 80% for vehicle movements to push more automotive shipping to water transport. (Automotive Logistics)

Shippers in Canada say Canada Post's complicated parcel pricing structure harms development of e-commerce. (Toronto Star)

Amazon is adding a same-day shipping option in Canada. (The Globe and Mail)

ABOUT US

Paul Page is deputy editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Follow him at @PaulPage, and follow the entire WSJ Logistics Report team: @brianjbaskin, @lorettachao, @RWhelanWSJ and @EEPhillips_WSJ, and follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.

Subscribe to this email newsletter by clicking here: http://on.wsj.com/Logisticsnewsletter .

Write to Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com

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September 29, 2016 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT)

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