Tag: India

Minister outlines India s plans for ship repair expansion

No More Toxic Ships to Sail to India from USA or Europe

India: Armed Guards for Merchant Ships

74 AIS sensors on lighthouses along the entire Indian coastline have been connected Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan dedicated to the nation the Automatic Identification System (AIS) Network today in Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs. 132 crore. It is a set up connecting 74 AIS sensors installed on lighthouses along the entire coastline. The system will be able to track vessels up to a distance of 50 kilometres from the coast. It is intended to help different users like DG Shipping, Ports, Navy, and Coast Guard in tracking, surveillance, search and rescue, and management of aids to navigation.The Network also has a provision to track small fishing vessels with customised transponders which will be helpful in search and rescue and also in extending help in case of any eventuality. There are about two lakh fishing vessels in Indian waters which are required to be equipped with such transponders. The Ministry of Shipping has approved a pilot project for Directorate General, Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) to provide transponders to 1,000 fishing vessels off the coast of Gujarat and Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs. 6 crore. In the next phase, it would be extended to other ...

For state-run refiner MRPL The shipping ministry has told private company Great Eastern Shipping Co (Gesco) to supply tankers to import Iranian oil for state-run refiner MRPL, which had to slash imports from Iran in July because the shipper was unwilling to carry them.Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), Iran's biggest Indian client, has an annual contract with Gesco through Transchart, an agency of the federal shipping ministry.But Gesco refused last month to lift cargoes for MRPL because of the lack of insurance cover after European sanctions came into effect barring insurance and reinsurance for Iranian shipments.An industry official, with access to a letter sent by the shipping ministry to Gesco on Monday, said it made clear India had now allowed state-run insurers to provide some cover for Iranian shipments and told the company to provide vessels for MRPL."Finance ministry has notified insurance policy for Iran oil imports on July 30, 2012," the industry official said."You (Gesco) are requested to arrange for the necessary insurance cover immediately and nominate suitable vessels to MRPL/Transchart for loading Iran crude oil under the CoA (Contract of Affreightment)," the official quoted the letter as saying.Gesco, the country's biggest private shipper, said it has not yet ...

Exports,India

Indian ship recyclers have been forced to adhere to the Basel Convention Indian ship recyclers have been forced to adhere to the Basel Convention regarding the import of hazardous wastes.Faced with a petition from Indian-based environmental organisation ToxicsWatch Alliance, on 30th July, India's Supreme Court ruled that vessels arriving for recycling in Indian waters containing hazardous materials, such as asbestos or PCBs, must follow the Basel Convention on global movements of hazardous wastes.This ruling means that India can no longer accept ships from Europe, or the US. It also means that India must first be notified as to all hazardous materials contained on board and must approve ship importation from all sources for scrapping, prior to the vessel's arrival in India, Basel Action Network said.Previous to this decision and despite India being a Party to the Basel Convention, the country has ignored its Basel legal obligations with respect to ships, the organisation claimed."Finally, the Supreme Court in India has dragged its government to face the fact that India for a long time has been violating international law with respect to its uncontrolled imports of toxic ships for scrapping on its beaches. It will no longer be able to do so," ...

On the request of oil PSUs Government on Tuesday said permission for ships carrying Iranian crude oil here are being granted on a case-by-case basis on the request of oil PSUs.The government clarification came days within one of its state refinery saying it could barely land a cargo from Tehran as the permission on CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis for ships carrying Iranian oil was withdrawn.In a statement, Indian Ministry of External Affairs said "with the EU sanctions which came into effect on July 1, 2012, some complications arose due to the non-availability of protection and indemnity (P&I) club insurance to ships carrying Iranian crude oil. Consequently, a general exemption was granted by government to foreign ships carrying Iranian crude oil on CIF basis to dock at Indian ports under certain conditions."Subsequently, the national insurance companies have agreed to extend insurance cover to Indian ships for transportation of Iranian crude to India, the ministry said."In view of this, the general exemption granted earlier to oil PSUs for carrying Iranian crude on CIF basis has been withdrawn. We understand that there are some issues yet to be resolved between the national insurance companies and the ship owners regarding the terms ...

500 Safe Days in APM Terminals Mumbai

After aviation, India to oppose EU s maritime carbon levies