The Indian shipping industry consists of about 616 ships, with a total capacity of

6.62 million tons Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT. !f these, about 2"# ships
are engaged in o$erseas trade and the rest ply inland routes. %fter a period of
decline, both tonnage and fleet si&e ha$e grown recently, with the addition of
ships ' tugs, sur$ey $essels, towing $essels as well as pilot $essels '
belonging to ports and maritime boards. These were added between %pril 2((2
and )arch 2((*. There are about "" shipping companies in the sector, of which
1+ deal e,clusi$ely in coastal trade, and 2+ are engaged in o$erseas trade. The
rest operate in both types of trade.
% few ma-or players dominate the sector. !f these, the state.owned /hipping
0orporation of India (/0I, and the pri$ate sector Great 1astern /hipping ha$e
mi,ed fleets. 1ssar /hipping focuses on the energy trade and mainly operates
tan2ers. 0howgule /hipping and 3arun /hipping are two other large companies
in the sector. 3arun /hipping operates mainly in wet, dry bul2, gas and chemical
transport sectors and 0howgule mo$es bul2 cargoes li2e iron ore, grain, coal,
fertili&ers etc.
India has a coastline spanning 4"16.6 2ilometers, forming one of the
biggest peninsulas in the world. It is ser$iced by 1* ma-or ports, 1#4
notified minor and intermediate ports
Classification of ports[edit]
Indian go$ernment has a federal structure, and according to
its constitution, maritime transport is to be administered by both the 0entral
and the /tate go$ernments. 5hile the central go$ernment6s shipping
ministry administers the ma-or ports, the minor and intermediate ports are
administered by the rele$ant departments or ministries in the nine coastal
states %ndhra 7radesh, !disha,5est 8engal, Tamil
9adu, :erala, :arnata2a, Goa, )aharashtra and Gu-arat. /e$eral of these
1#4 minor and intermediate ports ha$e been identified by the respecti$e
go$ernments to be de$eloped, in a phased manner, a good proportion of
them in$ol$ing public;pri$ate partnership.
)a-or ports handled o$er 4<= of all cargo traffic in 2((4. %ll ma-or ports,
e,cept one 1nnore 7ort are go$ernment administered, but pri$ate sector
participation in ports has increased. There are also 4 shipyards under the
control of the central go$ernment of India, 2 shipyards controlled by state
go$ernments, and 1+ pri$ately owned shipyards.
%s of 2(((, there were 1(2 shipping companies operating in India, of which
fi$e were pri$ately owned and based in India and one was owned
by /hipping 0orporation of India. There were 6*+ go$ernment.owned
ships, including +1 oil tan2ers, 4+ dry cargo bul2 carriers, and 1( cellular
container $essels. Indian.flagged $essels carried about 1" percent of
o$erseas cargo at Indian ports for financial year 2((*.
Name
Cargo
Handled
(2014)
'000
tonnes
%
Increase
(over
2014)
Vessel
Traic
(200!"
10)
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
Container
Traic
(200!"10)
'000 T%&s
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
3isa2hapatn
am
4+,"21 1(.1(= 2,446 1(.2+= 1<4 6."2=
:andla 6","(1 2.<+= 2,<(6 2."1= +# 1*.6"=
0hennai 61,("4 6.2(= 2,1*1 2."= 1,216 6.*#=
Name
Cargo
Handled
(2014)
'000
tonnes
%
Increase
(over
2014)
Vessel
Traic
(200!"
10)
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
Container
Traic
(200!"10)
'000 T%&s
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
9a$i )umbai 6(,4<6 6.(*= *,(+6 <.1*= <,(62 2.4#=
)umbai "<,"<* ".1<= 1,6*+ 1.64= "# .*6.+"=
7aradip "4,(11 22.#<= 1,"*1 .(.*2= < 1((.((=
)ormugao <#,#<4 14.1+= <6" 6.#+= 14 21.<2=
:ol2ata <6,2+" .1<.61= *,<62 (4."(= "(2 14.(1=
)angalore *","2# .*.14= 1,1#6 (.16= *1 6.#+=
Tuticorin 2*,4#4 #.(4= 1,<1< .4.21= <<( (.22=
:ochi 14,<2+ 1<.<"= #42 1".1+= 2+( 11.11=
Name
Cargo
Handled
(2014)
'000
tonnes
%
Increase
(over
2014)
Vessel
Traic
(200!"
10)
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
Container
Traic
(200!"10)
'000 T%&s
%
Increase
(over
200#$0!)
1nnore
(corporate
1(,4(* .6.+*= 24* +.2= .. ..
:ollam(>uilo
n
?2@
.. .. .. .. .. ..
'll Indian
(orts
)*0+!*# ),-4% 21+2)1 02,#2% *+#*) 4,2)%
I9/% was established with the abiding ob-ecti$e of becoming a rallying force for
all the shipping companies based in India. %s the torchbearer of the Indian
/hipping Industry, I9/% is committed to promote the o$erall de$elopment of the
industry, and ende$ouring to increase the profitibility of its member companies
and in turn their in$estors. 5ith the ad$ent of global $illage, I9/% is wor2ing
towards integrating the Indian shipping industry in the world economy.
Associate with all the activities in order to enhance the interests
of Indian shipping companies, members of Association and the
national shipping industry.
Co-ordinate its activities with other Chambers, Association,
Federations, Leagues, Conference etc., in India and abroad.
Collect, collate and disseminate statistical and other information,
in India and abroad, about shipping and allied industries.
Ensure proper conditions of service, for oating and shore
personnel of shipping companies and to promote welfare measures
for their bene!t.
Establish and maintain bureaus and information regarding the
conditions in similar industries in India and abroad.
"rgani#e lectures, meetings, conferences, syllabuses for the
advancement and promotion of maritime education.
$articipate and ta%e necessary action in promoting the interest of
national mercantile marine in all its aspects li%e shipbuilding, ship
repairing, port facilities etc. and allied activities.
$romote the development of national shipping for its fullest
possible participation in the carriage of cargo, passengers, stores
etc. in the inland, coastal and overseas trades of India as well as
cross trades outside India.
$rotect the national merchant navy from any encroachment or
interference.
$ublish &ournals and boo%s.
'ecure ade(uate representation for the Association and national
shipping ) allied industries on public, *overnment and non-
*overnment bodies, Federations, Conferences ) Committees.
'upport training and research establishments and institutions.
+atch and ta%e such action as may be considered advisable or
necessary in regard to any contemplated legislation, Central or 'tate
that may a,ect the interests of shipping companies and allied
industries.
-nderta%e and provide for the arbitration of all disputes in the
shipping industry, both among members and non-members of the
Association and in any other !elds allied to the shipping industry.
The Inland Container Depot (ICD) performs a number of services for the transport
operator and for the shipper or consignee. In general, there are three sequences of
activities.
The three main operational systems in the ICD are:
container arrival,
container storage and
container departure
The activities that are included in each sequence depend on the direction of the
container movement (inbound or outbound) and the container status Full Container
Load (FCL), (no stufng/destufng) required or Less than Container Load (LCL)
(stufng/destufng require).
Claiming a consignment can be a relatively time consuming process that involves cross-
border formalities, destufng, etc. In clearing the containers quickly through the port
terminal, the port terminal activities are roughly restricted to ship to shore transfer,
positioning in the yard for pickup, Customs detention if warranted, and so on. In
essence, time consuming activities like destufng, duty payments, cargo storage,
container storage are deferred to another location outside the port.
At the completion of processing at the container depots, the cargoes will be claimed by
the owners and generally distributed as breakbulk to their respective sites.
In the case of breakbulk cargo where both the ICD and the cargo owner are located far
away from the port, the linehaul portion of the voyage can be undertaken using
containers instead of breakbulk vehicles whereby breakbulk transport is much less
efcient than containerized transport. (generally 3 breakbulk shipments by truck is
equivalent to one container shipment by truck) Transport costs can be reduced by
keeping the goods in containers vis--vis breakbulk transport for as much of the linehaul
component as possible. Furthermore cargo owners are not required to send agents to
the port in order to clear the goods, rather document and cargo clearance can be
undertaken at the ICD saving the cargo owners time and money.
The activities that are undertaken in an ICD ultimately depend on the type of cargo
(breakbulk versus containerized), mode of transport (road, rail, inland waterway), and
type of shipment (foreign or domestic). Certainly the movement of containers around the
ICD will require the use of handling equipment, and storage whether in a container yard
or Container Freight Station (CFS). In addition, shipments that require stufng or de-
stufng services (breakbulk movements) will be processed via the CFS. Likewise,
foreign shipments that require customs clearance will also be routed via the CFS.
Ramco has a comprehensive software solution to manage ICD & CFS functions
efectively.