Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Friday announced that India's first Port of Refuge (PoR) has now become operational, marking a major step forward for India's maritime safety response.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a PoR is a designated port/anchorage that serves as a refuge for ships in distress seeking emergency repair, shelter from bad weather, and/or help for crew.
While such maritime disaster response frameworks are standard in major maritime economies, India had not formalised one until now.
Notably, India's new PoR is not a single port, but a two-port system functioning as a single Port of Refuge, in order to strengthen maritime emergency responses across India's eastern and western coasts—both of which come under major shipping routes.
Two sites will be designated by the APSEZ for this purpose—Maharashtra's Dighi Port on the western coast, which will support traffic across the Arabian Sea and routes towards Persian Gulf, as well as Odisha's Gopalpur Port on the eastern coast, serving vessels in the Bay of Bengal and routes towards the Malacca Strait.
The two-port PoR will be equipped with facilities for salvage and wreck removal, firefighting, pollution containment and emergency coordination services through specialised equipment and trained response teams.
The PoR is the result of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between APSEZ, SMIT Salvage—the salvage and emergency response division of the Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., a Dutch maritime services group—and the Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC), an Indian-origin agency involved in maritime rescue operations and risk assessments.
The new PoR will support vessels insured under the International Group of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs, in line with global maritime risk and liability frameworks.
This comes amid the war between Iran and US-Israel forces, which has led to the closure of the Hormuz Strait by the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to US and allied vessels, and plunged maritime trade into uncertainty.
In such times, India's decision to enhance its maritime emergency response readiness is seen as a major step forward in strengthening its position in the global maritime equation as a stable, strategically neutral country, en route to becoming a top maritime superpower by 2047.
"The adoption of a standardised Port of Refuge framework will enable more coordinated and timely action during maritime incidents, ensuring effective protection of life, cargo, and the coastal environment," said Shyam Jagannathan, Director General (DG) of Shipping.
"We are strengthening maritime safety and care for the marine environment where it matters most, and in doing so jointly protect India’s coastline and society. Providing a Port of Refuge to a casualty is critical in a salvage operation," noted Richard Janssen, Managing Director, SMIT Salvage.
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