India firms up defence against marine disasters, plans framework for salvage operations
MUMBAI : Domestic and foreign ships sailing in Indian waters may soon need to have a prior agreement with empanelled salvage companies.
This is one of steps proposed by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) to improve national preparedness and shorten the response time in dealing with marine accidents, shipwrecks and oil spills. This comes in the wake of recent incidents such as listing of Liberian flagged MSC Elsa and fire on board container ship MV Wan Hai.
Other initiatives already put in place include inspection of container ships to check for possible misdeclaration of goods and improper storage.
“Currently whenever there is a marine disaster, we direct ship owners to appoint a salvage company which causes delay in mobilisation of resources but now we propose to create a framework for salvage in accordance with Merchant Shipping Bill 2025 which has been passed by both houses of Parliament,” said Captain Abul Kalam Azad, nautical advisor, Indian government.
“All the ships including foreign vessels coming to Indian ports and transiting through the Indian coastal waters will need to have tie up with empanelled salvage companies that have resources, material and an ability to respond to marine disasters in 12 hours. Empanelment will be open to both Indian companies and foreign companies in a JV with a local firm which has experience, resources and deployment at key locations around the Indian Coast,” he added.
Among the major countries US already has in place regulations which mandate ships passing through its waters to have a response plan against oil spills.
Marine salvage operations are highly specialised tasks and required trained manpower. Limited availability of high powered tugs in India is a challenge and often resources have to be summoned from overseas. At times operations get delayed as ship owners haggle over salvage costs.
An industry expert welcomed the idea of a proposed framework. “We will have wait for the fine print to see how the government plans to provide salvage operations in all the states,” he said.
New strategies
On Monday, the DGS also proposed strategies to increase stakeholder collaboration, reduce maritime accidents and increase focus on training. These initiatives were announced on DGS’s 75th anniversary event.
Last year 186 safety incidents were reported by Indian vessels and foreign ships plying in Indian waters. Of these 108 were non-operational in nature including cases of missing seafarers or on-board deaths due to illness. The other 78 cases categorised as “marine casualties” consisted of collisions, fire, onboard explosion etc.
DGS is targeting zero safety incidents resulting from negligence and violations by 2047.