In the wake of MSC Elsa -3 sinking off the Kerala coast, the shipping sector has called for strengthening the Port State Control (PSC) for national safety, economic continuity, and international credibility.
Increasing the sanctioned strength, filling existing vacancies, equipping PSC offices with modern inspection tools and digital reporting platforms and investing in continuous training will go a long way in beefing up the regulatory compliance body of PSC, according to highly placed sources in the shipping sector.
The PSC mechanism remains the only legally tenable tool available to coastal states like India for inspecting and enforcing compliance on foreign-flagged ships operating within their maritime jurisdictions. With more than 97 per cent of India’s EXIM cargo carried on foreign-flag vessels, PSC inspections serve as the last line of defence against substandard shipping.
India has witnessed an exponential increase in both the number of ports and vessel calls over the past three decades. From a handful of major ports and moderate foreign vessel traffic in the 1990s, the country now hosts over 200 ports—major and minor—catering to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. However, the sanctioned strength of Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) in the Directorate General of Shipping remains the same as it was nearly 30 years ago, the sources said.
Moreover, close to 40 per cent of these sanctioned PSCO positions remain vacant. Single surveyors are often tasked with inspecting complex, high-capacity foreign ships that once required inspection teams of two or three officers.
Besides, the inspection regime must be delinked from bureaucratic delays and supported with real-time cargo intelligence, port cooperation, and legal authority to take deterrent action.
It is pointed out that the effectiveness of this critical maritime safety net has been progressively eroded by structural neglect, administrative inertia, and resource constraints.
The systemic inefficacy of PSC, if left unaddressed, exposes India to immense risk. Ships with serious design, structural, or manning deficiencies slip through the net and continue to ply Indian waters, endangering ports, coastal communities, and the marine environment. It will send a message to international shipping lines that India is a soft regulatory regime — an outcome incompatible with its aspirations of being a serious maritime power, the sources added.