Shipping Corporation of India


The Shipping Corporation of India is an Indian public sector undertaking that operates and manages vessels servicing both national and international lines. It is under the ownership of the Government of India and under administrative control of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, with its headquarters in Mumbai.
WWW shipindia.com

History

SCI was established on 2 October 1961 by the amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation. Two more shipping companies, Jayanti Shipping Company and Mogul Lines Limited, were merged with SCI in 1973 and 1986 respectively.
SCI started out with 19 vessels. It gradually metamorphosed into a conglomerate having 80 ships of 59 lakh tonnes deadweight with interests in different segments of the shipping trade.
The fleet size of the merchant carrier had peaked at over 120 vessels which included liners, oil tankers, gas carriers, chemical tankers, passenger vessels, offshore vessels.
Inland & Coastal Shipping Ltd., SCI's wholly owned subsidiary was incorporated in 2016 after Maritime India summit for undertaking/providing transport services through Inland waterways and coastal shipping.
In year 2003, the company recruited their first ever girls batch, the batch TNOC35 had 3 girls Namrata Singh Tarkar, Anuradha Jha and Suneha Gadpande and rest 32 boys.
On 21 November 2019, the Government of India approved the privatisation of SCI. In 2022, the privatisation was delayed by the Russo-Ukraine war.
However, the privatisation of SCI did not go through as the government announced in May 2025 that the national merchant carrier would buy over 200 vessels of all types by forming a joint venture of the respective stakeholder, mostly State-owned. This included the procurement 112 tankers at a cost of through 2047. Of this, 79 vessels, including 30 medium-ranged ones, would be bought in the first phase. The initiative will support India's plans to expand oil refinery annual capacity from the current 250 million tons to 450 million tons by 2030. Simultaneously, it will also expand the indigenous tankers in the Indian fleet from 5% in 2025 to 7% in 2030 and 69% by 2047. The first order for 10 ships is expected to be issued in May itself.
In August 2025, SCI was planning to purchase 26 vessels at a cost of. This will have a cumulative internal volume of 1.18 million gross tonnes. Overall, the firm plans to buy 207 vessels at.
SCI has a fleet of 55 vessels as of August 2025.
In January 2026, SCI issued an Expression of Interest to acquire 8 Very Large Gas Carriers. Under the project up to two ships can be delivered by an international shipyard and the rest of 6 will be delivered by a local shipyard. The International shipyard must have an experience of delivery at least 3 ships of the same class, VLGC, LNGC or VLEC, in the past 5 years and should explain their plans for local collaboration for the latter 6 ships. Further, a bigger from a country sharing land border with India must be registered with the Competent Authority to be eligible. The Press 3 Note is also applicable in order to keep a check on Chinese investments and participation.

Services

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