Chapter I PRELIMINARY

(1) This Act may be called the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025. (2) Save as otherwise provided; the provisions of this Act shall apply to–– (a) every vessel, other than an Indian vessel, engaged in coasting trade, irrespective of the place of residence or domicile of the owner; (b) every chartered vessel referred to in Chapter IV; and (c) coastal waters of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) “coasting trade” means carriage of goods or passengers by sea from any port or place in India to any other port or place in India, or performing any service within coastal waters but shall not include fishing of any kind. Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, “service” includes exploration, exploitation, research, and any other commercial activity in the coastal waters other than carriage of goods or passengers by sea; (b) “coastal waters” means any part of the territorial waters of India, along with any part of the adjoining maritime zones of India within the meaning of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976), for undertaking coasting trade: Provided that the Central Government may, by notification, specify any port or place including inland waters of India, as part of the coastal waters for the purposes of this Act; (c) “committee” means the committee constituted under sub-section (3) of section 8 for preparing the National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan; (d) “Director-General” means the Director-General appointed under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958); (e) “Indian vessel” means any vessel registered in India under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958); (f) “licence” means the licence issued by the Director-General under section 4 or section 11; (g) “licensee” includes the owner or master or charterer or operator or any person operating the vessel under a licence granted to such vessel by the Director-General; (h) “National Database of Coastal Shipping” means the database maintained by the Director-General under section 9; (i) “notification” means a notification published in the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of a State, as the case may be, and the expression “notify” with its grammatical variation and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly; (j) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made by the Central Government under this Act; (k) “principal officer” means the principal officer of the Mercantile Marine Department referred to in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958); (l) “proper officer” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (34) of section 2 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1952); (m) “Strategic Plan” means the National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan published under sub-section (1) of section 8; (n) “vessel” includes every description of water craft, used or capable of being used in the marine environment, whether self-propelled or not, such as ship, boat, sailing vessel, fishing vessel, submersible, semi-submersible, hydrofoils, non-displacement crafts, amphibious crafts, wing-in-ground crafts, pleasure crafts, barges, lighters, mobile offshore drilling units and mobile offshore units. (2) Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958), shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.