Govt Plans Coastal Shipping Sops

The ministry of shipping is working to iron out all policy hurdles that hinder the development of coastal shipping in the country.

This includes doing away with customs clearance requirements at major ports and rationalising high berthing and cargo handling charges for ocean going vessels.

"We are actively considering various measures to give a fillip to coastal shipping and are working towards abolishing customs formalities and reducing manning requirements for coastal vessels," an official with the ministry of shipping said.

However, much needs to be done at the policy level to harness the potential of coastal shipping. According to shippers, the freedom to load and unload cargo and better infrastructural facilities at ports, including specialised dry docking facilities for coastal ships, are important for the development of coastal shipping.

Designated ports with connectivity to the hinterland are also essential, they said. Development of coastal shipping is important as it would ease the pressure on roads and rail.

However, this mode of transportation has been grossly under utilised in the country due to lack of fiscal and financial incentives, say shippers.

Calling for the abolishing of customs formalities, they contend that coastal ships generally operate within the territorial waters and therefore they should be exempt from custom formalities.

It has been suggested that operators should have the freedom to employ their own labour for the loading and unloading of cargo without intervention from agencies such as the Dock Labour Board.

Specialised dry docks for coastal vessels are also needed on an urgent basis, the shippers added. The need for construction of special dry docks and slipways for coastal vessels stems from the fact that the existing dry dock facilities are primarily meant for larger ships.

Moreover, the charges levied on smaller coastal ships are comparatively higher. India has a 6,000 km long coastline and the potential of coastal shipping as an alternative mode of cargo transportation is enormous.

Realising this, the ministry of shipping has accorded high priority to the development of coastal shipping and has been working towards exploiting the potential of this previously neglected mode of transport.

After years of stagnation, coastal cargo movement is witnessing a change. There has been an increase of 32.3 per cent in terms of gross registered tonnage (GRT), and a 31.3 per cent increase in terms of number of ships in the last five years.

The changes are also manifested in the form of increased fleet size and tonnage, which increased from 163 ships aggregating 5.23 lakh gross registered tonnage (GRT) as on April 1, 1991, to 256 ships aggregating 6.65 lakh GRT as on September 30, 1999.