Shipowners want government's nod to appoint foreigners as seafarers

Mumbai, Sep 28 (UNI) Faced with acute shortage of seafarers, the shipping industry has urged the government to allow it to appoint foreign nationals as seafarers.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual review meet of INSA (Indian National Shipowners' Association) here yesterday, the CMD of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), S Hazra, said the industry was facing an acute shortage of seafarers due to several reasons. The most prominent among them being the fact that Indian employees on board ship have to pay more in taxes when compared to their foreign counterparts.

The baffling issue before us is that the Indian shipping industry is not permitted by the government to appoint foreign nationals as crew. It was surprising at a time when almost all the domestic as well as foreign air services operating in India are frequently recruiting foreign nationals as their crew, he added.

Citing the reasons behind his demand, Mr Hazra said globally there was an increased amount of inspection by international maritime industry keeping security point in view which requires sufficient number of crew members on board a ship. Secondly, as we are compelled to face aging fleet, only trained staff on ship can ensure safe sail of a floating ship, he added.

The tonnage tax regime also makes it mandatory to have at least one trainee officer for every 10 crew members on board a ship.

K M Seth, one of the directors of the INSA said the shipowners of the country were ready to supply DP-enabled ships to ONGC for addition of its new fleet, only the thing that we want some time to be given by the ONGC for the purpose. The ONGC is likely to float tenders in this connection within next three months.

Answering a media query over a recent controversy rose over Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for shipping sector, INSA president Yudhishthir Khatau, who is also the owner of Varun Shipping Pvt Ltd, said, ''Despite debate among various ministries about the issue, you've got a Merchant Shipping Act which was applicable on it''. He also added that we want a level-playing field on the investment issue in this connection.

Informing about the number of ships that were under post-state control detention at various ports today, the INSA general secretary, S R Kulkarni, said though the record was better as compared to last year, eight vessels have already been retained so far which include four in China and two in Taiwan.

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