India-Norway Cooperation on Green Maritime Sector

In News

Recently, the 8th Norway-India Joint Working Group Maritime meeting was held in Mumbai.

Indo-Norway joint effort for GREEN MARITIME Sector. 

• Background : Maritime trade with Norway dates back to 1600. 
  • Norway has the technical expertise in Maritime sector and India has huge potential for development of Maritime sector and large pool of trained seafarers, which make both countries natural complementary partners.
  • The 7th JWG on Maritime was held in Oslo in  2019 and issues regarding cooperation in Shipbuilding, enhancing skills of seafarers and environment friendly ships were discussed.
• Recent Developments: During the 8th Meeting Discussion was held on use of alternative fuels like green ammonia and hydrogen for futuristic shipping. 

• The Norwegian Green Shipping Programme has been successful and the experience and expertise was shared in the meeting.

• Norway stated that it is committed to India for zero emission solutions.
• The Indian side has requested Norway to extend Ship Board training and Ship Board training in the area of Polar Water Navigation.

• The Norwegian delegation will take part in INMARCO, the Green Shipping Conclave, and the Maritime ShEO conference. 
  • The Maritime ShEO conference is supported by Norway and focused on maritime diversity and sustainability, including gender equality in the maritime industry.

• Other Projects:
  • Green Voyage 2050 Project: India Norway is part of Green Voyage 2050 project, both parties agreed on willingness, devotion, partnership and capacity building for achieving common goals.
  • Hong Kong Convention: India is a signatory to Hong Kong Convention for Recycling of Ships. 
    • In the 8th meeting, India requested that EU regulation should not hinder recycling to non-European countries which are compliant as per International Convention. 

Maritime Industry in India

• India has 12 major and 200 non-major/intermediate ports (under state government administration). 
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is the largest major port in India, while Mudra is the largest private port. 
• India is one of the world’s top 5 ship recycling countries and holds 30% share in the global ship recycling market. 
• Approximately 95% of the country’s trade by volume and 68% by value is moved through Maritime Transport.
• The overall installed capacity of the major ports in India has increased over 76% to reach 1,561 MTPA in Mar 2021, vis-a-vis 872 MTPA in March 2014. 

Challenges of Maritime Industry

• Unsustainable extraction from marine resources, such as unsustainable fishing, exploited by illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
• Physical alterations and destruction of marine and coastal habitats and landscapes due largely to coastal development, deforestation, and mining. 
• Unplanned and unregulated development in the narrow coastal interface and nearshore areas has led to the marginalization of poor communities, and loss or degradation of critical habitats.
• Marine pollution, for example, in the form of excess nutrients from untreated sewage, agricultural runoff, and marine debris such as plastics.
• Impacts of climate change, for example, in the form of both slow-onset events like sea-level rise and more intense and frequent weather events.
• Other Factors: Ineffective governance institutions, inadequate economic incentives, technological advances, lack of or inadequate capacities, lack of full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other legal instruments, and insufficient application of management tools have often led to poorly regulated activities.

Initiatives of India

• MoPSW (Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways)  is working diligently to develop the Maritime Sector as a goal of Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030.

• Sagarmala Project: Vision of the Sagarmala Programme is to reduce logistics cost for export-import and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment.
• Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ): 
  • The government identifies 14 CEZs in the National Perspective Plan for Sagarmala Programme.
  • CEZs aims to promote exports by providing infrastructure and facilities to entrepreneurs to set up businesses and industries near Ports.
• Indian Ocean Rim Association: India has been taking active participation in the IORA for promotion of the blue economy in Indian Ocean littoral states.
• Matsya Sampada Yojana: 
  • It is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the country.
  • It will bring about the Blue Revolution by harnessing fisheries potential in a sustainable, responsible, inclusive and equitable manner.
• Polymetallic Nodules (PMN): India has received the sanction from International Seabed Authority for deep-sea mining in the Central Indian Ocean.

Way Ahead

• India needs to develop maritime trade among BIMSTEC nations and tie-ups / MoUs with other maritime countries. 
• There is clear potential to further improve the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the shipping ecosystem by a more comprehensive integration of technology. 
• Modernizing Major Ports infrastructure through PPP model. 

Source: PIB