• The Parliament approved The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025 with the Rajya Sabha passing it with a voice vote on August 11.

• It aims to replace the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.

• The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on August 6.

• The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025 seeks to expand the eligibility criteria for ownership of merchant shipping vessels and provide for investigation and enquiries on marine casualties among others.

Why the govt introduces new Bill?

• The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 was enacted to foster the development and ensure the efficient maintenance of an Indian mercantile marine in a manner best suited to serve the national interests and establish a National Shipping Board and to provide for the registration, certification, safety and security of Indian ships. 

• The 1958 Act contains 561 sections, as a result of various amendments carried out in the Act from time to time. 

• The merchant shipping industry has experienced significant changes internationally in recent years, presenting various challenges to Indian shipping. 

• To address these challenges and promote ease of doing business, reforms in the 1958 Act became essential. 

• The Bill is part of a series of major legal reforms undertaken over the years aimed at enabling robust growth in the shipping and maritime sectors. 

• Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal noted that the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 had become bulky, fragmented, and outdated with 561 sections, failing to address contemporary maritime challenges or fully implement India’s obligations under several key International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conventions.

• The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025, with 16 Parts and 325 clauses, modernises India’s maritime legal framework by aligning with international conventions, enhancing safety at sea, improving emergency response, and ensuring environmental protection. 

• It reduces compliance burdens, promotes Indian tonnage, and prioritises seafarer welfare and ship safety. 

Key provisions of the Bill:

• The new Bill empowers the central government to take charge and detain vessels within India or in coastal waters as a vessel without nationality, if such vessel is not legally entitled to fly the flag of a state or has lost such a right.

• It expands the eligibility criteria for ownership of merchant shipping vessels and provides for investigation and enquiries on marine casualties.

• The Bill provides for contemporaneous, futuristic and dynamic legislation to meet the requirements of India as an emerging economy.

• The draft law would provide for maritime liability and compensation in claims arising out of collision of vessels and accidents at sea leading to damage or loss of vessel, cargo or property.

• It also provides for limitation of liability for damages in respect of certain claims and constitution of limitation fund.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)