Page 202 - DMGT546_INTERNATIONAL_TRADE_PROCEDURE_AND_DOCUMENTATION

Unit 9: Characteristics of Shipping Industries

Approval for Foreign direct investment up to 74% is also provided by the Time Charter of ships Notes
by Indian Shipping Companies. 140 shipping companies were in operation in India at the end of
March 2003, with the Shipping Corporation of India being the biggest in the country claiming a
42% share of the total Indian tonnage. The country presently has 12 major ports, 184 other ports,
nine shipyards and a coastline of 7517 km.

Size

Indian shipping Industry has become the 14th largest fleet in the world as per deadweight
tonnage. The shipping fleet of India consists of around 515 vessels with a GRT of 7.06 million and
DWT of 11.5 million ones. It has about 616 ships, with a total capacity of 6.62 million tons Gross
Registered Tonnage (GRT). Out of which about 258 ships are engaged in overseas trade and the
rest ply inland routes.

Total Contribution to the Economy/Sales

When compared to World Shipping Tonnage the share of Indian Shipping Tonnage as in term of
tonnage (GT) by Flag of Registration stood at 1.19% on 1.1.2006, 1.1.2007 at 1.16% and 1.18% on
1.1.2008 as per data available.

9.2 Characterstics of Shipping Industry

Around 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. Without shipping
the import and export of goods on the scale necessary for the modern world would not be
possible.
Seaborne trade continues to expand, bringing benefits for consumers across the world through
competitive freight costs. Thanks to the growing efficiency of shipping as a mode of transport
and increased economic liberalisation, the prospects for the industry’s further growth continue
to be strong.

There are around 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of
cargo. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers
of virtually every nationality.
India’s freight transport system carries approximately 1000 billion ton-kilometres; the modal
share being, road 60-65%, rail 30-32% and coastal shipping 6-7%. The modal share of coastal
shipping in European Union is more than 40%. With Indian economy growing at 6-7%, the
freight transport demand is likely to grow to 2000 billion tonne-km in next 8-10 years. As such,
there is a need for integrated transport planning accompanied by modal shifts in favour of cost
efficient mode such as coastal shipping. The need for modal shift arises mainly from the
environmental concerns and the need to alleviate congestion, not to mention the economic
return. Lack of integrated approach will only add to chaos on the road and rail, besides further
distorting the modal mix.

Did u know? The total volume of the traffic handled by all the Indian ports during 2004-05
was 521.58 million tonnes, of which 383.75 million tonnes i.e. around 74 percent was
handled by Major Ports and remaining 137.83 million tonnes by the non-major ports.

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