Ageing Indian vessels ring alarm bells

Chennai: When cyclone Nilam bea­ched oil tanker Pratibha Ca­uvery on the Marina last year killing six people, it opened Pandora’s box. The 31-year-old ship was not sea worthy at the time of the in­cident.

The owner of the gr­o­unded vessel managed to salvage her, but the company was forced to sell her for scrapping later. The ageing fleet of Indian ships is now a worrying factor considering the lives of sailors onboard apart from the environmental polluti­on they cause and other ma­ri­ne related issues.

A recent study has found that 41 per cent of merchant vessels are ab­o­ve 20 ye­ars of age in the country. The details av­ailable on Directorate Gen­eral of Shipping website sh­ows that 375 vessels are ag­ed above 26 years.

According to the Asso­ciated Ch­ambers of Com­merce and Industry of India (Ass­ocham)’s analysis, of the total 1,122 shipping vessels in India, about 466 vessels fall in the age group of 20 years and more. The ana­lysis says considering the average life of a shipping vessel is about 26 years, most of the existing Indian vessels need to be replaced.

DG shipping’s chief ship surveyor R.M. Suresh Ku­mar said it was not mandatory to retire a vessel. It may be noted that Union shipping minister G.K. Va­san was instrumental in imposing restrictions on entry of foreign ships older than 25 years into Indian po­rts or its territorial wa­t­ers, while also imposing st­ricter rules when older sh­ips are dumped in the Ind­ian market.

The ships have to follow regulations laid down by the International Asso­ciation of Classification So­cieties, which sets standa­rds for design, construction and life-cycle maintenance of ships to ensure safety of life, property and environment. The foreign vessels also need to possess insurance from a reputed company.

Noting that the country's shipping fleet has increased from 549 vessels in 2000 to 1,122 vessels in 2011, Ass­oc­ham secretary general D.S. Rawat in his analysis said a majority of Indian ships were less competitive at pr­esent as mostly younger ve­ssels less than 15 years old were preferred in international maritime trade and commerce. Former shipping secretary K. Mohandas said older ships were not safe and it was desirable to modernise them.