Our shippers are facing the brunt of extremely high freight and shortage of tonnage. The issue is so large as to alarm our government. The government is seriously looking at various options to bring in some relief. However, we are missing a big point while struggling under this mess of rising freight and low availability of tonnage. One of the major contributors to vessel space shortage and higher cost originates from the new challenges of manning these 50,000 odd vessels worldwide. As the geo-politics unfolds, China has almost practically banned Indian crew changes on its ports in the pretext of Covid infection. They have meted out similar punishments on the Philippines and most other seafaring nations. The tit-for-tats in Asia has resulted in a situation where crew change in Asia has become a ship owners nightmare. India too is in this melee. Saddled by its infamous and unpredictable bureaucracy, India looks far more difficult to attempt crew changes. Result is we have more ships and a few people to man them in Asia. The only people who could be put on board with ease are the Chinese crew. The reasons are obvious. Most new builds come from China and most of the vessels call China most of the time. The result is a very high demand of Chinese crew. Their wages are hitting the ceiling. On the other hand, Indian seafaring is on  the decline. Owners want to stay away from the Indian crew. We are losing jobs. Our wages are going down. India has about 240,000 odd seafarers. They contribute to inward remittances of nearly 10 billion USD annually. Our government should think ambitiously of increasing this number of 240,000 to 500,000 and thereby double the inward remittance, instead of staying tangled  in this tit-for-tat melee. The effects of this tit-for-tat  are not in favour of our national interest. If the Chinese don’t allow Indian seafarers, so be it. We are free to do the exact opposite. We have gone through the worst effects of Covid pandemic. We understand its nuances. Our vaccination rate is impressive with 100 crores of doses already administered.

We should create a heaven for crew change in India. Allow smooth crew change in our ports. Incentivise this activity irrespective of nationality. Invite owners and managers to come to India for crew change. If we could contain this virus in a matter of days on a massive population of 138 crores, there is no reason why we should be shy to undertake this operation for a few hundreds or thousands of seafarers. Have simple rules of tests before arrival in India for the incoming crew. Test them on arrival. If OK, take them directly on board with special dedicated & insulated vehicles. Allow no contact with other people. Similarly get the tests done for the outgoing crew before disembarkation. Then take them straight to board the flights in dedicated & insulated vehicles. Those found infected, if any, could be kept quarantined for 2 to 3 weeks before allowing them to move. Have simple, practical, and yet effective guidelines & SOPs and ensure compliance by private players. We could learn this from the ports in the EU. Such an act will make India a hero & saviour shipping in Asia. You could call this crew diplomacy. Ship owners and managers from round the globe would bring their vessels to call India for crew changes. Imagine the impact this will have on India. This will open up so many business opportunities in India – from ship supply, repair, to crewing. Owners and managers would be flocking to employ more Indian seafarers on their vessels. Wages would rise. India would be hailed as the mecca of crew change in Asia. We would turn this adversity to an opportunity. With more ships calling Indian shores, we could see more favourable freight rates and tonnages for the Indian shippers. This is an opportunity that should not be squandered away by our government.

Marex Media

Capt PS Rath

CMD,

Econship Group of Companies