Former ace cricketer Kapil Dev is sailing into unchartered waters literally--boarding the shipping and logistics space by picking up a 30 per cent stake in Hamburg, Germany-based global shipping services operator Peter Doehle Group's domestic arm Doehle Danautic Logistics.
The city-based Doehle Danautic Logistics, founded by Capt Daniel Chopra, is a shipping company providing crew and technical management, besides logistics and trading.
With the association with Kapil, the company will be bringing in new, cheaper and eco-friendly technology to fight the rampant corrosion in the shipping space and logistics space.
The new technology, being brought in by through a tie-up with the US-based ZRC Corp, is a galvanizer that can be used like a paint and thus cheaper than the only available anti- corrosion technology today --hot-dip galvanising that is very costly and time-consuming.
According to the data available with the Union heavy industries ministry, the country annually loses around 3 per cent of the GDP to iron and steel corrosion in the shipping, rail and road transport space. While in 2007, the country lost a hefty Rs 1.5 lakh crore due to corrosion, it jumped by a massive 35 per cent in 2009 to Rs 2 lakh crore.
Kapil will be formally announcing his association with Doehle Danautic on September 9 here.
