Saying that no pirate attack had been reported along the Indian coast so far, Director General of Shipping Deepak Shetty IRS said on Tuesday that India was seeking help from the International Maritime Organization to extend the High Risk Area further from Indian shores. Apparently this move will lessen maritime mishap risks in the region.
“We have been requesting their help in changing the boundary from the current 70 degree East Latitude to 65. This will see that the danger zone is not hugging the Indian shores, compelling ships to travel close to the shore to avoid the red zone,” Shetty said here. It will also result in Indian ships having to pay less insurance premium. “Currently the high risk zone is lying close to our maritime boundary.
So ships passing through the area need to pay higher premium, as fixed by London-based War-risk Insurance. With the boundary moving away, Indian ships will be out of the zone during their transit and need to pay less insurance money,” he said.
The official also said the IMO should not fix norms on green house emissions as advocated by developed countries. “They should decide on the basis of principle of Equity and Consensus.”