India: 616 Ships, 6.62 Million Tons

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com) has announced the addition of Shipping Industry in India to their offering. The Indian shipping industry consists of about 616 ships, with a total capacity of 6.62 million tons Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT). Of these, about 258 ships are engaged in overseas trade and the rest ply inland routes. After a period of decline, both tonnage and fleet size have grown recently, with the addition of ships -- tugs, survey vessels, towing vessels as well as pilot vessels -- belonging to ports and maritime boards. These were added between April 2002 and March 2003. There are about 55 shipping companies in the sector, of which 19 deal exclusively in coastal trade, and 29 are engaged in overseas trade. The rest operate in both types of trade. A few major players dominate the sector. Of these, the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), and the private sector Great Eastern Shipping have mixed fleets. Essar Shipping focuses on the energy trade and mainly operates tankers. Chowgule Shipping and Varun Shipping are two other large companies in the sector. Varun Shipping operates mainly in wet, dry bulk, gas and chemical transport sectors and Chowgule moves bulk cargoes like iron ore, grain, coal, fertilizers etc.