New Delhi: The Shipping Ministry urged 12 major ports to consider removing charges or reducing them for cargo shipments bound for West Asia. Currently, they are stranded due to escalating tension across the regions, according to a TOI report.
The Shipping Ministry asked the ports to examine requests for concessions such as reductions or remissions of charges, including storage rent and vessel change costs. Shipping Secretary Vijay Kumar was involved in a virtual meeting on Saturday with industry stakeholders, including ministries, shipping lines, oil PSUs, companies, and exporters, as the authorities have been instructed not to put additional charges during the crisis.
Meanwhile, in the affected period, to avoid disruption, ports may allow cargo meant for West Asia to be stored as transshipment cargo as part of the measures. The ports were also instructed to allocate extra space and coordinate well with customs authorities to reverse the export cargo into the domestic market, if necessary.
Additionally, port authorities have been asked to prioritise the handling of perishable goods to prevent spoilage and ensure sufficient bunkering capacity to meet possible increases in demand.
Major stakeholders raise concerns
The directives come after shipping lines, exporters, oil public sector companies, and other industry stakeholders raised concerns about potential port congestion and container shortages within the next two to three weeks.
There are 11 vessels in different ports in India that are destined for the Persian Gulf and another 35 flagged vessels in the region.
During the meeting, stakeholders also suggested allowing more foreign-flagged vessels to transport domestic cargo to help ease the shortage of ships and containers, as freight costs continue to rise.