The Hindu Business Line : SCI to get training ship from Japan

THE Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is going to have a training ship soon. This follows the Japanese Government's decision to gift the Indian Government a ship for training purposes. The ship, though more than 30 years old, is believed to be in good condition.

The Indian Government in turn has asked SCI to do the needful. There are slots on board the ship for training of 200 seamen in addition to facilities for accommodation. Right now SCI does not have any training ship. The acquisition of a training ship will fulfil the long-time need for having one.

While SCI would like other shipping companies to utilise the facilities to be offered by the ship, SCI sources are not sure if these shipping companies will be keen to spend as much as required on training of their own personnel.

There is also a proposal to recover part of the cost of maintenance by operating it on the coast. However, the details are being worked out.

Expanding container operation: Meanwhile, the public sector shipping company is toying with the idea of expanding its container operation to cover new destinations, augment existing services and resume services abandoned some time ago.

There are plans to launch a new service to South Africa in partnership with some of the world container majors, introducing Indafex III, i.e, third service to the Far East (including China), and resume services to the US East Coast.

The US East Coast service, known as Indamex (India-East Coast of the US) service, was in force till June in partnership with APL, Contship and CMA-CGM. It was withdrawn due to non-availability of vessels.

However, for resuming US East Coast Service, SCI, according to informed sources, will not go back to the old consortium; instead, it will forge alliances with the new partners and form a new consortium, it is learnt.