India: State maritime board yet to get central nod

Kerala government is yet to get the central nod for the constitution of a Maritime Board even though the proposal was approved by the state cabinet almost a year ago.

The proposed board will subsume the entities of the department of ports, Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation and Kerala Maritime Society into itself. The board is expected to make critical contribution to the development of coastal shipping which was launched with much fanfare in Kollam on Saturday.

Ports minister K Babu says the government will issue the bill on the formation of the board as an ordinance. But the central nod is a prerequisite for issuing the ordinance also. Three or four central departments had raised some questions on the earlier draft bill submitted by the state. The revised draft was submitted some four months ago, and it is currently pending at the Union home ministry. "We hope to get the final clearance soon, and we will take steps to issue the ordinance immediately after that," the minister told TOI here.

On the challenges to get return cargo for the coastal ships operating to Kerala, the minister said industries minister P K Kunhalikutty is convening a meeting of the state public sector units next week to persuade them to shift their cargo from road to waterways.

However shipping experts said coastal shipping would take off in a significant way only if private players were roped in on a large-scale. Only private players will be able to provide cargo on a sustained basis and operate the services in an economic way, said a former shipping ministry official.

The industry sources are also skeptical about the government's commitment to develop coastal shipping.

"Coastal shipping would be successful only if low cost vessels built as per the River-Sea Rules 2008 are introduced. Currently Kerala is following the high cost model of operating the coastal shipping services using the vessels built as per Merchant Shipping Act," said Captain Phillip Mathew of Lots Shipping.

"The River-Sea Rules vessels can be built on a large-scale only if the industry has access to soft loans," he said.

Kochi; Kerala government is yet to get Central nod for the constitution of a Maritime Board even though the proposal was approved by the State cabinet almost a year back.

The proposed board will subsume the entities of the department of ports, Kerala State Maritime Development Corporation and Kerala Maritime Society into itself.

The Board is expected to make critical contribution for the development of the coastal shipping which has been launched with much fanfare in Kollam on Saturday.

The Port Minister K Babu says the government will issue the Bill on the formation of the Board as an Ordinance. But the Central nod is a prerequisite for issuing the Ordinance also. Three or four the Central departments had raised some questions on the earlier draft Bill submitted by the state. The revised draft was submitted about four months back, and it is currently pending at the Union Home Ministry.

We hope to get the final clearances soon, and we will take the steps to issue the Ordinance immediately after that,'' the Minister told TOI here.

On the challenges to get return cargo for the coastal ships operating to Kerala , the Minister said, the Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty is convening a meeting of the state public sector units next week to persuade them to shift their cargo from road to waterways.

He said the Port department had sanctioned Rs 50 lakhs to set up LPG terminal at Kollam port and to facilitate the transport of LPG through coastal ships.

However the shipping experts said coastal shipping would take off in a significant way only if the private players were roped in on a large -scale. Only the private players will be able to provide cargo on sustained basis and top operate the services in an economic way, said a former shipping ministry official.

The industry sources are also skeptical about the government's commitment to develop coastal shipping. Coastal shipping would be successful only if the low cost vessels built as per the River-Sea Rules 2008 are introduced to operate. Currently Kerala is following the high cost model of operating the coastal shipping services using the vessels built as per Merchant Shipping Act,'' said Captain Phillip Mathew of Lots Shipping

The River-Sea Rules vessels can be built on a large-scale only if the industry has access to soft loans,'' he said.
Source: Times of India