India to buy more second-hand vessels to raise container capacity

New Delhi: India will purchase more second-hand vessels to add to the country's container shipping capacity, two senior shipping officials said on Thursday after talks with multiple ministries to cut transportation costs and increase exports.

Discussions were held after Indian goods exports fell for two consecutive months, with a 9.3 per cent year-on-year fall in August, which traders blamed on rising shipping costs, a slowdown in China and recessionary trends in Europe and the United States.

Addition of new vessels is expected to reduce the time for exports and raise the container capacity by 10 per cent to 12 per cent, the shipping officials told reporters after the talks.

Trade Minister Piyush Goyal added that he expected shipping and transportation costs for Indian exports to fall by a third soon.

Attacks on the Red Sea shipping route since late 2023 increased transit time as vessels had to be diverted around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, raising charter hire costs and delays at ports, India's shipping minister said in July.

Thursday's talks with ministries including finance, shipping, railways and aviation featured discussions on geopolitical challenges, including in the Red Sea, and their impact on trade, Goyal said.