New Delhi: India is working on a plan to revive the Shipping Corp. of India’s (SCI) maritime services to West Asia, in a move aimed at supporting domestic exporters and bolstering the supply of essential commodities, particularly energy imports, from the region, a government official said.
The government is working on addressing multiple challenges, and it will take some time before services can be resumed, as the Strait of Hormuz—a key waterway between Iran and Oman through which nearly a fifth of global oil flows—remains severely disrupted, Mukesh Mangal, additional secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, told reporters on Wednesday.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi regarding the current situation in West Asia, amid reports US President Donald Trump had rejected Iran’s proposal to end the war and remove Hormuz blockade.
In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday evening, Jaishankar wrote: “Received a phone call from Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi of Iran this evening. @araghchi”
“Had a detailed conversation about various aspects of the current situation. We agreed to remain in close touch,” he added.
Shipping Corp., which operates under the administrative control of the shipping ministry, currently has a fleet of 61 ships including tankers for crude oil, liquefied natural gas and petroleum products.
“Yes…I would like to add here that starting shipping services is not like we decide today and immediately tomorrow we can start the services. It’s a combination of so many things like getting the required cargo…agencies are there for arranging berthing in Middle Eastern ports and then transport of cargo to hinterland of different countries. But the government is working on this so that Shipping Corporation of India can start services to Middle East,” Mangal said.
“Of course, we are trying to start it and this is for the benefit of our exporters,” he added.
The ongoing war hit India’s goods exports in March. India’s merchandise exports fell more than 7% in March on a year-on-year basis to $38.9 billion. Further, West Asia has traditionally been a supplier of about 60% of India’s oil imports, 60% of natural gas imports and 90% of liquefied petroleum gas imports.
Mangal added that India is under discussions with Iranian authorities to ensure safe passage of India-flagged vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz.
“All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours,” he said.
The shipping ministry, through the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping), has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 2,829 Indian seafarers so far, including 29 in the last 24 hours, from various locations across the Gulf region. He added that there are currently about 19,500 seafarers in West Asia.
In a bid to support Indian-flagged vessels, the Union cabinet on 18 April approved the proposal for creation of a domestic insurance pool, namely ‘Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool’ (BMI pool) with a sovereign guarantee of ₹12,980 crore to facilitate continuous maritime insurance coverages. The pool is aimed at ensuring that Indian trade continues to have access to affordable insurance for vessels carrying cargo from any international origin to Indian ports and vice-versa, even when transiting volatile maritime corridors.
With increased global volatility and geopolitical instability, maritime trade has been impacted, with increased risk of losses for cargo and vessels resulting in higher insurance costs and uncertainty in continuous availability of insurance.
