Saddled with fiscal constraints and increased scrapping, the Indian fleet has declined by about 11 per cent.
The Indian fleet stood at 6.21 millon gross registered tonne (grt) on January 1, 2003, against 6.95 million tonne grt on January 1, 2002. Further, fleet deletion outstripped fleet acquisition.
While the tonnage added during the period was 2.12 lakh grt, the tonnage deleted was 9.81 lakh grt. The fleet now comprises 617 ships, including 5.40 million grt deployed in the overseas trade, 0.64 million grt in the coastal trade and 0.17 million grt of offshore supply vessels.