The Indian shipping is confronted with a number of problems which include inadequacy of tonnage capacity, shortage of container fleet, overage vessels resulting into high operating costs, stiff competition from foreign shipping’s which provide better and cheaper service, congestion at the major ports and inadequate infrastructural support like ship repair facility, dry docking and cargo handling.
The Government of India is fully aware of these difficulties and efforts are being made to remove them. In the Eighth Plan the basic thrusts were towards the replacement of aged and uneconomic ships by modern one, diversification of the fleet through the acquisition of container ships and specialised carriers, achievement of self-sufficiency in tankers, improvement of infrastructural facilities at the ports, introduction of such measures like cargo support, priority banking and financial assistance to private sector to replace their overage and uneconomic fleet.
The SCI has chalked out a plan to acquire 44 vessels during the Ninth Plan involving a total in- vestment of $ 1,250 million. The current thrust is on the LNG sector. The National Shipping Board (1958) has been set up to advice the Central Government for the improvement of shipping. The LBS College of Advanced Maritime Studies and Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERT) at Kolkata and Mumbai conduct training and research courses in shipping.