New traffic plan proposed to avoid collisions off south-west coast

The Directorate General of Shipping has proposed the establishment of a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) off the south-west coast of India to prevent collision incidents between merchant vessels and fishing vessels off the coast of Kerala.

This proposal has been drawn taking into consideration past collision incidents off the Indian coast, traffic patterns of merchant's vessels for past years, and optimum sea routes, in consonance with the current traffic flow, including simplification of traffic in converging areas off the coast of Kerala.

The proposal has also considered aspects pertaining to the safety of navigation, maritime security and the separation of opposing streams of traffic to reduce incidents of collision in Indian waters.

Stakeholder consultations are in progress for establishing the TSS in the south-west coast. The proposed TSS lanes are currently under consideration and will be located at a distance of about 90 nautical miles west of Mangalore in Karnataka, with the lanes leading in a south-easterly direction to the southernmost tip of India and ending about 40 nautical miles off south of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. The average distance from the coast is about 50 nautical miles.

The proposal will be put on the DGS website before finalisation, and will also be sent to stakeholders. The promulgation of TSS on the south-west coast of India is expected to shift the density of merchant traffic away from the coast and merchant ship traffic will become more concentrated in the established TSS.

The implementation of a TSS is expected to result in more sea room for fishing vessels to operate safely and will, therefore, be beneficial to the fishing industry.