India has exempted vessel sharing agreements (VSAs) from the oversight of its competition commission for one more year.
The decision was taken by the corporate affairs ministry, which said VSAs were unlikely to hit competition.
The shipping ministry will monitor the pacts in the meantime, however.
The exemption applies to all owners operating ships of any flag from Indian ports.
The ministry warned that VSAs should not involve "concerted practices involving fixing of prices, limitation of capacity or sales and the allocation of markets or customers".
