Shipping ministry issues SOP for major ports amid Iran vs US-Israel chaos: All you need to know

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) on Saturday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all of India's 13 major ports to address issues linked to the conflict between Iran and US-Israel forces.

Drafted after extensive consultations with all stakeholders on Friday, the new SOP mandates that each port appoint a nodal officer—at the level of head of department (HOD) or deputy HOD—as the 24x7 single point of contact for addressing such issues and facilitating the smooth handling of cargo and vessels affected by this.

The SOP came into force on Saturday and will remain as such till the shipping ministry issues an order based on changes in the situation and daily action reports from the ports.

Other important SOP-mandated measures that are to be taken are:

1) Periodical meetings between chairpersons of the major ports and stakeholders to discuss the impact of the Gulf chaos on areas like shipping lines, exporters, terminal operations, the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), and port customs processes.

2) The storage of cargo scheduled to reach areas in the Middle East as transshipment cargo during the course of the war. 

3) Additional cargo storage area will also be made available based on requirements.

4) Facilitating the berthing of ad-hoc call vessels for picking up/dropping off Middle East transshipment cargo.

The SOP has also advised ports to consider the following measures:

1) Expediting the 'Back to Town' movement of export cargo lying in the port premises, in coordination with its customs department.

2) Priority handling of perishable cargo and export cargo returning from the Middle East

3) Requests from users on the reduction, waiver, or remission of charges may be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the port's circumstances.