The Hindu Business Line : Move to force shipping cos pay for clearing wrecks

THE Government has decided to enforce a new regulation to ensure that the cost of removing a wrecked ship from Indian coastal waters is borne by its owner.

The move follows the growing instances of shipwrecks being abandoned by shipowners as their safe removal involves huge costs. The Goa Government had agreed to pay Rs 85 lakh to a foreign contractor to remove the wrecked ship "River Princes" lying near Fort Aguada for more than four years as its owner had refused to remove it.

According to estimates, there are over 100 such wrecks lying at different places along the Indian coast, posing a serious threat of marine pollution. The Union Surface Transport Secretary, Mr D.T. Joseph, said the amount being paid by Goa Government is comparatively small. There are cases where the major ports in the country had to pay crores of rupees to remove wrecks that blocked the navigation channel.

Mr Joseph told Business Line that the Government proposes to introduce a new regulation tightening the entry norms for ships to Indian ports. This will make it mandatory for all ships calling at Indian ports to have an insurance cover to meet the cost of wreck removal. A committee set up recently under the chairmanship of the Director General of Shipping with representatives of General Insurance Corporation of India, the Indian Ports Association and the Indian National Ship Owners Association to recommend suitable insurance (protection and indemnity-P&I) cover for ships calling at Indian ports, is expected to submit its report shortly.

Based on the committee's recommendations, a draft regulation prepared last year will be modified to ensure that ships should have insurance covering wrecks within 12 nautical miles from the port. According to sources, P&I agencies are opposing this, as they want the insurance limited to cover only port waters.

Some ship owners are of the view that P&I lobby is behind the move to make wreck removal insurance mandatory for all ships. Their argument is that even if the ship has P&I cover, it is not easy to enforce it. There are cases where the ship has original P&I certificate but it has defaulted on payment of premium. Besides, the legal system in India takes a long time to settle disputes. For example, the case against a foreign ship, which had caused damage to an SBM facility of Reliance Industries at Hazira in 1998, is still pending at a court in Gujarat.

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