Sonowal spoke at the Government: High-Level Roundtable during the IMO 2026 World Maritime Day Parallel Event amid his 4-day visit to South Korea to boost maritime cooperation under the VOYAGES agreement.

Sonowal spoke at the Government: High-Level Roundtable during the IMO 2026 World Maritime Day Parallel Event amid his 4-day visit to South Korea to boost maritime cooperation under the VOYAGES agreement.

Sonowal spoke at the Government: High-Level Roundtable during the IMO 2026 World Maritime Day Parallel Event amid his 4-day visit to South Korea to boost maritime cooperation under the VOYAGES agreement.

India is looking to make large strides in its maritime cooperation with South Korea, with Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, highlighting the country's maritime decarbonisation and digitalisation efforts at a Busan event.

"India is playing a key role in driving global transition toward sustainable and smart shipping," Sonowal said at the Government: High-Level Roundtable during the IMO 2026 World Maritime Day Parallel Event in Busan.

He also noted India's efforts in training its maritime workforce to use alternative green fuels and advanced technologies, with the aim of ensuring that one in five seafarers globally is Indian.

Sonowal also said that the IMO's conventions were an "operational lighthouse" for shipping at a time of geopolitical instability, piracy and disruption in the Red Sea, protecting seafarers, trade and supply chains.

He later met with the Korea Marine Equipment Association (KOMEA), a major body representing over 300 Korean marine equipment makers and shipbuilders, ahead of the inauguration of its first India office in Mumbai on October 30.

This comes as part of Sonowal's four-day visit to South Korea from October 25 to boost maritime cooperation under the VOYAGES agreement.

Inked during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to India in April, the framework includes cooperation in covers cooperation in shipbuilding, shipping and maritime logistics.

He had also earlier interacted with Indian professionals working in Korean maritime firms such as Samsung Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and HD Hyundai, as well as other global organisations, such as the DNV and the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

Citing India's growing need for shipbuilders, marine engineers, naval architects, designers, welders, project managers and technology specialists, he urged them to serve as "living bridges" between the two nations—to bring their Korean experience home or to support Indian companies from Korea.

Notably, this comes on the back of two key India-Korea maritime collaborations.

The first is HD Hyundai's upcoming Korean-style greenfield shipbuilding cluster in the port city of Tuticorin (Thoothukudi), valued at roughly ₹38,000 crore, for which the state government has already formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV)—named the National Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Park Tamil Nadu Limited (NSHIP-TN)—between SIPCOT and the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOCPA).

After the project was granted in-principle approval from the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping), the VOCPA in September had issued the work order for the Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) of the cluster in consultation with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd. (KSOE), for which inception work had begun at the proposed site.

The SPV had also floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) calling global consultants to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the greenfield shipbuilding cluster.

The second of the two maritime collaborations was between Cochin Shipyard and HD KSOE for long-term cooperation in shipbuilding and maritime development.

Specifically, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two firms on July 04, 2025, plotted a roadmap for them to explore newbuilding opportunities in India and abroad, sharing technical expertise, and joint efforts in upskilling.

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