The National Shipping Board will take up the issue of waiver of seafarers tax with the Union Ministry of Finance. The Board will request the Ministry to waive the entire amount of Rs 130 crore a year, according to its Chairman, Capt. P.V.K. Mohan.

Talking to newspersons, he said the Board was also planning to provide armed guards on all Indian ships to keep sea pirates at bay.

The Board held its 116th meeting here on Wednesday.

Referring to the threat from pirates and the problem faced by the Indian shipping personnel, Capt. Mohan said that NSB was of the opinion that all nations and their navies must come together to counter the threat from pirates.

The NSB was also looking at tapping the tier III and tier IV cities to meet the manpower needs of the merchant navy.

There were enough officers, but there was need to recruit more sailors, he said. Interestingly, India contributed seven per cent of manpower requirement in international shipping and two thirds of those working on foreign flag ships were Indians, he said.

Wreckages of ships and boats around the ports in the country was a problem, which the Board would take up with the concerned ministries.

First it would like the fresh wrecks to be taken up and later the older wrecks, to ensure smooth sailing for the merchant ships. NSB would conduct a survey to locate the wrecks, he said.

Capt. Mohan said the major industries such as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and fertiliser units could make use of ships for transport of their products inside the country.

For improving coastal shipping, measures such as carbon credit exchange, easier documentation by the Customs, duty-free bunkers and spares, etc. were needed, he added.

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