Indias Ports Increase Discount for RoRo Ships

zoomIllustration; Image Courtesy: NYK In an effort to promote its shipping industry, the Indian Ministry of Shipping has decided to offer a discount for coastal transportation of vehicles via Roll-on/roll-off ships at Indias major ports. Namely, the ministry said that all major ports will provide a discount of 80 percent for two years on Vessel Related Charges (VRC) & Coastal Related Charges (CRC). This discount is also extended to other similar ships such as Ro-Pax vessels, pure car carriers (PSS), pure car/truck carriers (PCTC). As per the earlier scheme, coastal vessels including Ro-Ro vessels used to get a discount of 40 percent over that of the foreign going vessels. With increase in discount to 80 percent, it is expected that the shipping service providers will be able to attract more auto-mobile cargo through the coastal route and decongest the already congested roads and railways, as well as make the Ro-Ro ship service operations more sustainable.