The Hindu Business Line : `More ships flag out of India'

THE increasing number of ships taking foreign flag, the lack of sea time training for cadets and the continuing deficiency of port infrastructure were some of the key issues raised at the ICS-BIMCO (Baltic and International Maritime Council) international conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), Madras branch.

Mr D.T. Joseph, Union Shipping Secretary, said despite the introduction of tonnage tax, which is beneficial to ship companies, more ships have been flagged out of India recently.

Mr Abdul Qadir, Managing Director, West Asia Maritime, noted that one of the reasons for Indian ships taking foreign flag was the high wage costs. Income-Tax authorities were not willing to accept the proof furnished by the companies that their employees had spent the requisite time overseas to get tax breaks. As a result, shipping companies had to pay the taxes themselves.

Maritime courses lack quality

Mr Joseph said though there were about 100 institutes offering maritime courses, he was unhappy about the quality of training given to cadets at these institutions. Indian cadets found that it was difficult to get training at sea as there was no system that ensured that all the cadets get sufficient sea time. The few companies, which were offering sea time, were charging huge amounts. This would be detrimental to the industry in the long run, he said. He called on the industry to come together to run `real' training ships.

Mr S. Hajara, Chairman, Shipping Corporation of India, said the Government of Japan had offered the Indian Government a training ship, which would be operated by SCI. He said after the concessions given by the Government and the fees collected, the annual outgo from the company would be between Rs 12 crore and Rs 15 crore. The company's board is yet to consider this, he said.

Public-private partnership

Mr Joseph said he had welcomed public-private partnership in port operations but "was very angry" that security clearance was not given to some of the top international port operators such as Hutchison Port Holdings and Evergreen. He said recently a new appraisal mechanism called the PPP Appraisal Committee was set up. "This would create further delays," he said.

Mr Joseph said industry and the Government should come together to address the issue of Indian seafarers who are missing or have been attacked while working under a foreign flag.

Mr R. Veeramani, Chairman and Managing Director, Gem Granites, giving the shippers' perspective said the delays at port were increasing the transaction cost.

Mr Ishwar Achanta, Managing Director, Viking Shipping, said coastal shipping must be encouraged and companies should invest in building new railway sidings. Though India had the second largest rail network in the country, the network had to be upgraded, he said.

The existing legislation, which was framed in the days of the British Raj, has to be revised to suit today's requirements, Mr Achanta said.

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