India, Bangladesh working on operating norms for coastal shipping
17 Jul 2014
India and Bangladesh are working towards an agreement and setting up of standard operating procedures for undertaking coastal shipping between the ports of Bangladesh and the eastern ports of India.
Once the operating procedures are put in place, Indo-Bangladesh bilateral trade through coastal shipping is likely to take off from October, official sources said.
At a meeting last month the two countries had agreed to conform to Indian standards of River Sea Vessels (RSV)-4 for the vessels operating on the coastal routes between the two countries. India has agreed to assist Bangladesh through Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) for classification of Bangladesh vessels.
Both the countries have also agreed to buy insurance cover for a limit of $10 million from the respective domestic insurance companies, sources said.
Discussion were being held through diplomatic channels to formalise coastal shipping arrangements between the two countries over the last two years and a trial run is expected to be undertaken by October this year, the said.
Coastal trade with Bangladesh had not been a success in the past but with the recent tweaking of standard for Indian coastal vessels, India had asked Bangladeshi counterparts to meet at least the Indian standard, if not International Association for Classification Societies (IACS).
There are about 20 vessels from Bangladesh that can adhere to the Indian standards and Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) will inspect the vessels to meet the standard protocol.
Once IRS approves the vessels then insurance hurdle will get resolved, shipping industry sources said, adding, coastal trade with Bangladesh will bring huge savings to the industry.
The Chittagong port is 150 km off Agartala, the capital of Tripura, and more than 350 km away from Kolkata via Bangladesh, while the distance between Tripura and Kolkata is about 1,650 km through the rugged hilly terrain.
Coastal shipping will help bridge the distance that hampers trading via land route.
