August 29, 2008

Vessels over 25 years old face operational curbs

It is reported that, alarmed by the recent spate of accidents, director general of shipping has banned the use of chartered vessels older than 25 years in India's territorial waters in foul weather.

According to a circular issued by India's maritime regulator on April 25th 2008, the step is initiated following the suggestions from a working committee set up by union ministry of shipping, road transport & highways in July 2007 to study the trend in rising marine accidents in Indian seas.

At least 18 accidents were reported within 8 to 10 weeks in the monsoon last year.

By modifying the existing guidelines for chartering of vessels, director general of shipping has barred all the charter vessels more than 25 years old (30 years in case of gas carriers), including all cargo vessels, oil or product tankers and dredgers, from plying in the Indian waters.

The circular said that old vessels would not ply in the Bay of Bengal along the east coast for a period of 7 months from May 1st 2008 to November 30th 2008, while in the Arabian Sea along the west coast the vessels cannot be used between June 1st 2008 and August 31st 2008. In addition, the circular also states that charted vessels can only ply in the Indian waters if they are classified by the Indian Register of Shipping or any other government classified societies.

Mr Samuel Darse deputy director general of shipping said that "Since analysis of the accidents over the last 3 years showed a significant correlation between the age of vessels and the break downs that caused these casualties, the committee recommended the revision of guidelines to restrict the age of vessels and a tighter regime of survey and inspection."

According to industry sources, in 2007 the Indian fleet stood at 850 vessels, which includes overseas vessels of different categories, crossing 900 million gross tonnage for the first time. The average age of Indian fleet as on October 2007 was 18 years.
Mr S Hajra CMD of Shipping Corporation of India said that "Even though it cannot be firmly said that age of the vessel was one of the grave reason for accidents, but if the government considers that this move could reduce accidents and then one should wait for its effect and not jump to conclusions."

Mr Anil Delvi CEO of Shreyas Shipping said that "We had put forward this argument with the ministry and the DGS but they have assured us that IRS was geared up for the new challenge." He added that there is any evidence to show that past accidents were linked to the age of the vessel. However, he hoped that the DGS could always relax the rule if it was not effective.

Industry players have also urged the DGS to make public the accident inquiries in future cases.