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« on: August 11, 2007, 01:43:59 AM »
Hi!
I can't help smiling when I read this... We are currently anchored off Visakhapatnam, India, and when I look around I don't see many ships that look to be newer than 15-20 years. If India goes ahead with this (which I think they won't, it's just politics) they won't have much trade. And forbidding FoC flagged ships as well... India already have some of the most stringent cabotage rules (outside USA) in the world and are obviously looking to further these in a non-realistic protectionist move, probably in the hope that all trade to/from India will be with Indian flagged ships. As I look around again I do see quite a few Indian flagged ships here, but the majority seems (as everywhere else in the world) to be FoC flagged. In conlusion, this seems to be a rather naive suggestion by some protectionist politician, who has taken hint from what's going on in the EU... :-x
Also it wouldn't suprise me if this is intended to, in some slightly misdirected way, boost the Indian shipbuilding industry.
BRGDS / foggy