The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), Mumbai, has issued instructions to Indian National Ship owners’ Association (INSA) ‘to extend its Cabotage NOC network to cover all ship owners regardless of membership’.It may be recalled here that when DGS recently granted licence to charter a foreign vessel by AS Shipping Agencies, Seaways Shipping objected to the Cabotage waiver. As per its current practice, the Directorate was informed by INSA about non-availability of Indian vessels for the purpose. According to in-chartering guidelines, INSA issues NOCs only after checking with its members and not with the remaining around 180 owners who could be having vessels available.
Till recently, when someone applies to DGS for chartering licence, the administration used to ask INSA and Indian Coastal Conference (the body of coastal operators) about availability of their fleet for chartering. This kind of chartering has been appreciated much by the ship owners, as it gave them the privilege to have the right of first refusal in case of cargo availability.
Depending on their response, DGS used to issue the licence. Of late, DGS has made INSA the sole organization consulted for chartering. It has led to unwarranted frictions among some of the members of the other organizations. It is said that some of the disappointed members were behind the recent demand for a parallel body of ship owners.
What seems to have prompted the Directorate to issue the ruling was that it has been made to issue charter licence despite availability of an Indian vessel. At this juncture, it is worth mentioned here that the DGS communication to Seaways Shipping notes that while objecting in principle charting of a foreign vessel, the company has ‘not offered any vessel for the same sector’. It also observed that ‘Cabotage cannot be allowed to become an entry barrier to ships on charter at the expense of trade, nor can we go beyond our circular.’
Even though INSA has agreed ‘to seek responses from all Indian shipping companies, irrespective of their membership of INSA, on the chartering enquiries received by it’, it has asked for details from the Directorate of all those companies who are not members of INSA / ICC for the purpose.
Meanwhile, INSA has requested the administration to look into the credentials of those companies which make much ado about nothing.
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