Shipping industry pays an important role in the economy of a country. The shipping industry supports transportation of national and international cargoes. Globalisation has helped the shipping industry to acquire new dimensions in terms of demand and infrastructural development. There is always a tough competition and hence rapid transformations are brought about. The handling of cargo traffic has also changed. The shipping industry in India is not limited to the domestic requirements, it is trying to spread its wings to the international trade as well. Shipping is not limited to just vessels and tonnage. Human capital, information technology and experts are also important in creating more opportunities. The shipping industry depends on the IT skills of the citizens to play an important role in the IT activity involved in international shipping and thus providing information processing requirements to the international owners. India’s vast coastline is an added advantage as it supports the sea transport of bulk cargo. As per the liberalization policy the shipping industry and major ports have been given to the private sector. The different types of ships like crude tanker, product tanker and bulk carriers have been brought under the open licence scheme to help acquisition at competitive prices. Automatic approval is also available for acquisition of such companies. Shipping companies can even retain the sale proceeds of their ships abroad and use them for fresh acquisition.
Indian shipping industry is the 14th largest fleet in the world. The shipping industry offers a lot of job opportunities and is one of the oldest careers that offers a good income and a unique lifestyle. Shipping jobs are found in cities with port facility. Merchant navy jobs, cruise ship jobs, freight jobs and oil tanker jobs are some examples of the jobs related to the shipping industry. There are also job opportunities in international cruise ship companies that are connected with India. The shipping companies in India have several opportunities that needs to be grabbed. The import of liquefied natural gas can bring about a huge volume of business to the shipping industry. Thus the Indian shipping companies must have strong connections with the foreign companies. The top leading companies in this industry are Ultratech Cement, Gujarat Ambuja Cement limited, Chowgule shipping, Varun shipping company, Essar shipping courses in kerala etc.
The shipping industry is regulated by certain rules and regulations of international maritime organization and also the rules of the countries where the vessel operates. This industry plays a major role in sustaining growth in the countries trade and commerce. The offshore shipping lines will be benefited by the increase in India’s refining capacity. The shipping industry is effected by various short term and regional factors. Addition to the shipping capacity can lead to more supply. The number of vessels that can be built and the time taken to build the vessels also play an important role in determining the growth in tonnage supply. The demand in the shipping industry is related to the growth in world trade. The government’s policy of ship building has helped the Indian shipyard to get foreign orders to meet the requirements of the ship owners. There is a need to look into the training and development of manpower so as to bring the workforce up to the world class techniques. Thus the job aspirants must join the coaching classes to improve their skills to face the challenging world.
