The Gujarat Government has decided to ban entry of ships above 25 years of age at ports which come under its administrative control.

The move follows the sinking of the 27-year-old ship, m.v. Rak Carrier off the Mumbai coast last week, while on its way to the Gujarat port of Dahej with 60,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia.

Besides causing an oil spill, which is being cleared by the Coast Guards, the incident raised concerns of coastal safety and lax enforcement of the State port control regulations.

Confirming the move, Capt S.C. Mathur, Chief Nautical Officer of the Gujarat Maritime Board, told Business Line that “We have orally communicated to port officials (about the ban) and an official communication will be issued shortly.”

Ships which have already been chartered or those which are on their way to the State ports will be permitted entry.

Exception could also be made in the case of ships with stability certificates from reputed classification societies, Capt Mathur said. “Our objective is not to hurt the trade, but to ensure safety and protection of our costal waters,” he said.

“We do not want our ports to handle old and sub-standard ships without proper documents and sea-worthiness certificates”.

In a notice to the trade, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone, the largest private port in Gujarat, said “in the light of m.v. Rak Carrier sinking off the coast of Mumbai and the resulting pollution which is now threatening the Mumbai Coastline, the State maritime regulator, GMB, has decided to ban entry of ships over 25 years of age.

The formal notification to this effect will be issued shortly by the GMB.”

GMB has, however, advised MPSEZ that ships of 25 years of age which have already been chartered and are proceeding to GMB administered ports will be permitted to enter GMB owned port after they have taken clearance from the GMB on case to case basis as an interim measure, the trade notice said.

Earlier also Gujarat Maritime Board had tried to restrict entry of old ships but was met with resistance from various stake holders. It had raised the issue at the recent meeting of the Maritime States Development Council at Hyderabad.

Gujarat has several private ports including the leading Mundra, Pipavava, Hazira and Dahej. Last year, ports in Gujart handled 231 million tonnes of cargo, accounting for about 80 per cent of the total cargo handled by the minor ports in the country. Gujarat ports handle all types of cargo — oil, petroleum products, LPG, coal grains and containerised cargo.

There have bee suggestions in the past too to ban entry of ships above 25 years at all Indian ports.

The Capt P.V.K Mohan Committee, which was set up to study the enquiry report on the collision between two ships – MSC Chitra and Khallijia III in the Mumbai harbour last year, had recommended banning entry of ships above 25 years at all ports in the country.

However, the Union Government is yet to take a decision on this. Indian shipowners were not in favour of such a ban. The Director General of Shipping, Mr S. Agnihotri, is not in favour of a blanket ban on ship above 25 year of age.

There are ships above 25 years which are in good condition, he said. However, he wants to step up port state control surveillance and inspections.

His view is being fully supported by the Chairman of Shipping Corporation of India, Mr S. Hajara. The age of the ship should not be the only criterion for determining the its seaworthiness. The condition of the ship also depends on its maintenance.

Rak carrier

According to a statement issued by the Director General of Shipping, which had ordered an enquiry in the sinking of m.v. Rak Carrier, the ship was classed with the Lloyd Register. However, the classification society had denied it and clarified that it had withdrawn its class certification in November last year.

The vessel had subsequently gone to a non-IACS classification society for the sea-worthiness certificate.

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