Page 20 - Annual Review 2020

Indian National Shipowners’ Association
It was proposed that INSA should begin an annu- al ‘INSA Prize’ that would be awarded to selected technical papers written by students of the maritime training institutes.
The eligibility criteria for the students should be en- rollment in undergraduate and post graduate pro- grams in any maritime related disciplines including include nautical, maritime engineering, naval, ar- chitecture and management.
Reduction of trainees onboard INSA
ships
The shipping industry is facing a huge surplus of junior officers/and engineers, waiting for employ- ment after obtaining the Certificate of Competen- cy (CoC). These officers/engineers could not be gainfully employed on board the vessels as junior officers/engineers due to non-availability of accom- modation. Since this figure is on an increase, it is leading to frustration among these seafarers who
are just starting their careers.
In order to reduce the backlog, INSA had taken up this matter with DGS and suggested substitution of one trainee with a trainee electro-technical officer (ETO) as part of tonnage tax trainees without in- cluding them in safe manning.
What are INSA’s expectations from
the Government of India?
INSA is indeed extremely fortunate to have a very pragmatic and pro-active Minister incharge of Ship- ping.
In our opinion, he being a true nationalist, we pre- sume that he would uphold the fundamental belief that Indian cargo is meant for Indian ships only. This provides a huge psychological support to the entire Indian maritime industry especially the Indian shipping industry.
For a shipping company this directly translates into faith that the minister will not allow policies that would reduce employment opportunities of Indian flag ships. We also hope that the minister would en- sure that foreign shipping companies are required to flag in India before carrying Indian cargo so that they too contribute to the Indian economy.
To add to this merry mix, he has special empathy for the Indian seafarer. So frankly, INSA couldn’t be happier and we believe that Shri Mansukhbhai Mandaviya and the Indian government led by Shri Narendra bhai Modi will deliver in terms of policy support to Indian shipping, this time around.
What is INSA seeking from the
Indian government?
Primarily, what the Indian Shipping industry is seek- ing is recognition as a legitimate tax paying industry in India with an immense strategic dimension that affects its commercial security and the international standing of India among nations.
Today Indian Shipping has to compete with the rest of the world and yet the domestic maritime players are in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis their di- rect competitors – the foreign shipping companies due to several legacy/structural issues. The mari- time sector has seen NIL investments by way of any plan or budgetary allocation, and the 100% FDI in Shipping has seen no takers too. With the current government’s thrust on infrastructure, we believe this can be changed.
The failure to address the operating and tax related issues of Indian shipping today results in a forex drain by way of freight paid to foreign ships to the tune of ~USD 50 billion annually. This is also jeop- ardizing the commercial security of India by mak- ing us vulnerable as a nation to freight subjugation which in turn makes Indian exports non-competitive and imports costly. We expect this government to set these issues right – with the result that Indian and foreign ships are on equal footing in terms of taxes paid and operational obligations - while carry- ing Indian coastal and EXIM cargoes. Primary and important is the need to provide access to com- petitive long-term funding first and also attend to costs related to manpower, bunkers and taxation. The biggest challenge that the government of India needs to tackle is making Indian shipping compet- itive.
Today, despite the aversion to contribute to the In- dian economy by refusing to flag in India, foreign shipping companies carry 92.55% of India’s EXIM cargo and the Indian government and policy mak- ers are mute spectators.
The broad structure of things that need to be done for Indian shipping are as follows.
i. Need for an focused and integrated Maritime Policy for India with no room for policy flip flops. The aim of the policy should be to make Indian shipping competitive vis-à-vis other domestic modes of transportation like road and rail- ways; and foreign shipping company operat- ing on the Indian coast and on international trades.
ii. A Maritime Development Fund is the need of the hour as Indian shipping faces dearth of funding options abroad and in India. The In- dian maritime sector requires long-term funds at competitive rates as are available to global
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