Shipping ministry plans to allow foreign crew on Indian ships

NEW DELHI: The shipping ministry is considering a proposal to allow foreign crew on Indian ships. “The shipping ministry has written to home, external affairs and the defence ministries for their approval. The external affairs ministry has already given its go-ahead for allowing foreign seafarers on a case-to-case basis. Replies from the home and the defence ministries are awaited,” an official in the shipping ministry said.

For long, industry has been demanding that foreign seafarers be allowed on Indian ships. According to industry estimates, there is a shortfall of about 1,500 sea-farers in the officer grade in the country.

“With the Indian shipping companies expected to expand their fleet significantly with an investment of over $4 billion in the next three to four years, the manpower requirement is expected to go up significantly,” KPMG associate director Bivek Anand said. Apart from addition of new ships, many domestic vessels are scheduled to be replaced in the next few years.

In India, the average age of a vessel is over 15 years as compared to 12 years internationally. The country’s largest shipping company, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), has a shortfall of about 500 seafarers.

With a fleet size of 84 ships, SCI commands a 32.8% share in the country’s 8.4 million gross registered tonnage (GRT). The company will add 41 lakh dead weight tonnage (DWT) in the next four to five years at an investment of Rs 13,135 crore.

“At the end of the current Five Year Plan, we will add 14 to 15 vessels to our fleet. To meet the workforce requirement, we are planning to train people from other maritime training institutes and employ them with us,” SCI head (personnel and administration) Kailash Gupta said.

India ranks 14th in the world by flag or registry, forming about 1.53% of the total DWT. India’s contribution to the world’s total seafarer count is just 6%.