The Hindu Business Line : Shippers' armada to take on shipping lines

THE ASSOCIATION of Shippers Councils of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (ASCOBIPS) recently celebrated its silver jubilee in Karachi. Established in 1980 by the shippers councils of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the objective of the Association has been to foster close cooperation among the members for sharing experience and protecting their common interests.

Whether the objective has been achieved is of course another matter. There has been a significant change in the shipping world marked by the overwhelming presence of the container operators and the consequent free-for-all in the freight market. For the shippers it was a bonanza and the need for movement was not seriously felt.

Not any more. The silver jubilee celebration provided the Association members an opportunity to improve understanding among themselves in the changing shipping scenario.

At Karachi, the shippers resolved to join hands with other shippers' councils of the world to end the "anti-trust immunity" under which the shipping lines resort to "frequent and unjust" freight hikes. Under the anti-trust immunity, any decision or action of the shipping lines on freight cannot be challenged in a court of law.

Such organisations as the Asian Shippers Council and ASEAN Shippers are believed to have expressed their resentment to the anti-trust immunity enjoyed by the shipping lines.

The representative of the Asian Shippers Council present at the Karachi meeting said the victimisation of shippers by the shipping lines was more conspicuous in developing than in developed nations and the impact was more severe on small and medium businesses.

The issue of anti-trust immunity was also taken up with the International Maritime Organisation but with little effect. Devoid of any clout, the shippers buckled before the shipping lines mostly belonging to the developed nations.

Some ASCOBIPS members wondered how could shipping lines not adhere to the UNCTAD rules providing for at least 150 days notice before implementing any freight hike.

The Karachi meeting also adopted several resolutions relating to free trade, cost reductions, exchange of information and trade facilitation.

The Chairman of the Pakistan Shippers' Council said that all charges should be clubbed under one head — freight charges. He felt that the final liability of the shippers should be discharged at the port of loading and not at the port of unloading.

The system of Home Bill of Lading, it was felt, should be scrapped forthwith and only a Master Bill of Lading should be acceptable for getting the delivery of goods.

The representative of the All India Shippers Council emphasised the need for an efficient multi-modal transportation system not only to reduce transportation costs but also to enhance the competitiveness of exports.

The developing countries faced a greater challenge in the emerging global scenario than the developed nations and therefore needed to work out common strategy to cope with it. The ASCOBIPS members together accounted for nearly one-fifth of shippers world-wide and therefore were well poised to harness their resources for optimal utilisation.

The issue of bilateral shipping services among the members also came up for a review. Now the size of the official trade between India and Pakistan amounted to $500 million, though the volume of informal trade was put as high as $2 billion.

The official trade between the two countries, it was pointed out, could rise to $6 billion provided the national carriers of the two countries started calling at each other's ports, on the dismantling of various barriers. The need for a new bilateral shipping protocol after amending the existing one was emphasised.

It was also suggested that regular shipping services should be introduced between Karachi and Chittagong in view of the rapid rise in exports of jute, an estimated 150,000 tonnes, from Bangladesh to Pakistan.

The signing of the free trade agreement between Sri Lanka and Pakistan too called for a regular shipping services by national carriers between the two countries.

The meeting also did some soul-searching. If the foreign shipping lines dominated the shipping scenes of the developing countries, it was because, the ASCOBIPS members conceded, the role of the national carriers left much to be desired.

The members, therefore, decided to urge their governments to strengthen their national carriers as also to put in place a mechanism for protecting the interests of shippers.

There was also an agreement on the need to strengthen the shippers movement in the region, more so because the shippers had so far been divided lot and failed to leverage their position to force the shipping lines to a negotiating table.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
AI may name financial advisor for IPO today

Indian Airlines to go on e-ticket mode

Airlines still working out losses due to Mumbai rains

Supply chain management — UPS looks at radio frequency ID package

KRL's Single Point Mooring project — First in pipeline for Puthuvypeen

Shippers' armada to take on shipping lines

Two views on LNG shipping

Karachi shipyard privatisation

World's largest container ship

Refrigerated cargo trades cool

EADS profits up

Katra-Laole line in J&K — Konkan Railway faces uphill task

Level playing field for private players — Railways likely to withdraw sops to Concor

`Centre must certify Konkan sky bus as urban transport system'