India has taken another step towards setting up a protection and indemnity club in the latest sign of expansion outside the 12 members of the International Group of P&I Clubs.
According to the regulator’s website, the country’s Directorate General of Shipping has issued a tender for consultants to conduct a feasibility study on the plan.
The review will examine the potential for an Indian club within the mutual and fixed premium markets, according to India’s Economic Times.
It said the study will compare operations run by non-International Group companies in countries including Japan, China, South Korea, Iran, Russia and Singapore.
The project will initially target Indian-flagged shipping, which relies on the international fixed premium market for its P&I cover. There are plans to expand the project to global shipping markets.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year told a maritime conference that setting up a P&I club would reduce India’s vulnerability to global sanctions.
New Delhi snubbed overtures by the G7 group of nations to join the sanctions and price cap regime targeting Russian oil exports from December 2022.
It has since seized the opportunity raised by a European boycott to import cheaper Russian oil to become the largest importer along with China.
But it remains affected by the measures and has not accepted some vessels and operators that have been hit by sanctions imposed by Western countries.
The International Group complained in April that frustration with compliance demands led to 800 ships leaving its member clubs.
The trend has continued this year, with global oceangoing tonnage covered by International Group members down from 90% in 2021 to 87% now.
The biggest decline has been in tankers, with 81% now under the group umbrella.
The declining numbers stand in contrast to the China P&I Club, which, despite not being a member of the International Group, has seen its mutual tonnage grow rapidly to 90 gt.
That gives it a portfolio larger than five other International Group members as it marks its 40th anniversary, according to data from Lockton Marine’s 2024 P&I market review.
“We wonder if an application to the IG [International Group] for full membership might be forthcoming in the near future,” it said in its market overview.
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