Maritime News, Mumbai, India : The Global Seafarers Union of India (GSUI) has come out strongly against a new directive from the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) that could shake up India’s maritime training sector and disrupt the careers of thousands of seafarers.
Order No. 08 of 2025, issued on August 1, 2025, prohibits any foreign maritime administration, its affiliates, or agents from conducting or promoting maritime training in India — including online and distance learning — without prior written approval from DG Shipping.
The timing has raised eyebrows: the order was issued on the very day the Bombay High Court stayed DG Shipping’s controversial Circular 31 of 2025, a policy that GSUI had already challenged in court.
What the Ban Means
The order mandates that:
- No foreign government or maritime authority can offer maritime training in India — whether in person or online — without DG Shipping’s approval.
- Current training providers without approval must shut down immediately.
- DG Shipping can blacklist violators and refuse recognition of their certificates.
- Offenders may face legal action under the Merchant Shipping Act and the IT Act.
Who’s Hit the Hardest
Indian Seafarers: Thousands who earned their Certificates of Competency (CoC) and Certificates of Proficiency (CoP) via foreign flag-authorized programs — particularly from Panama, Honduras, Belize, Cook Islands, and Liberia — now face uncertainty over their qualifications.
Training Institutes: Several maritime training centers tied to foreign authorities, operating for years under IMO’s STCW Code, may be forced to close. That means job losses for instructors, staff, and administrators.
Online Learners: The ban even applies to digital training accessed from India, creating confusion for seafarers in the middle of online refresher or modular courses.
Economy: GSUI warns that disruptions to seafarers’ careers will hit family incomes, cause loan defaults, and slash the billions of rupees in foreign remittances that Indian seafarers send home each year.
GSUI’s Objections
While GSUI agrees that quality standards in maritime training are essential, it says the order was issued without consulting key stakeholders such as seafarers’ unions, maritime institutes, or recruitment agencies.
GSUI says it supports cracking down on fraud — but not by steamrolling legitimate trainees, institutes, and workers without consultation.
Balaram Patil, Founder & President, GSUI (Former MLC, Maharashtra), bluntly condemned the move:
“It is highly ironic that while the Centre aims to expand our shipbuilding and trade ambitions, we are simultaneously throwing thousands of experienced Indian seafarers into unemployment—without dialogue, without dignity, and without an opportunity to prove their worth or regularize their status.”
GSUI calls the timing “policy by ambush,” noting the order was released the same day the High Court stayed Circular 31 — a coincidence the union finds hard to believe.
“The livelihoods of thousands are at stake,” the union said in a statement. “Instead of dialogue and reform, we’re seeing sudden, sweeping bans. This is policy by ambush.”
GSUI also called the timing “highly suspicious,” linking it to their legal win against Circular 31:
“Issuing this order on the very day the High Court stayed Circular 31 sends a message — if one door is closed by the courts, DG Shipping will open another to bypass it,” said GSUI spokesperson Gaurav Porwal.
What GSUI Wants
The union has demanded:
- Immediate clarity on the validity of foreign CoCs/CoPs already issued in India.
- A grace period for ongoing students and training centers.
- Inclusion of unions, MTIs, and foreign flag bodies in reviewing the order.
- Protection for online and distance learners already enrolled.
- A transparent approval framework for foreign training providers.
The Road Ahead
GSUI says it is prepared to take legal action if necessary and will continue to fight “policy decisions made without compassion or due process.”
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and DG Shipping have yet to respond to GSUI’s demands. In the meantime, the country’s maritime community is left grappling with what could be the most disruptive shake-up in Indian maritime training in years.
