Cabotage relaxed for special vessels
Vessel operators can now be allowed to bring foreign flagged vessels on the coastal routes as the Indian Government has decided to relax cabotage for special vessels.
Special vessels like Roll-On Roll-Off (Ro-Ro), Hybrid Roll-On Roll-Off (Hybrid Ro-Ro), Roll-On Roll-Off cum Passenger (Ro-Pax), Pure Car Carriers, Pure Car and Truck Carriers, LNG vessels and Over-Dimensional cargo or Project Cargo Carriers have been relaxed cabotage for a period of five years, according to official announcement by the Indian Government.
With this relaxation, vessel operators will be allowed to bring foreign flagged vessels of this category to ply on the coastal routes.
“Such special vessels are in short supply in the country but since they cater to specific classes of cargo, their availability will make it possible to shift cargo movement for these commodities from road and rail to coastal shipping,” the Indian Union Shipping Ministry said in a statement.
“As an example, large automobile clusters exist at Manesar and around Chennai. Large numbers of cars are transported from north to south and vice-versa. It is possible to shift a major part of this transportation to coastal shipping.”
India also expects the availability of RoRo vessels to reduce carbon emissions and provide a green mode of transportation. The new cabotage laws will affect 12 major Indian ports and about 200 non-major ports.