Visit to Kakinada; Principal Officer meets port management and maritime stakeholders

Kakinada Deep Water Port, 27 & 28 August 2026

Capt. Anish Joseph, Principal Officer-cum-Jt.DG (Tech) (I/c), Mercantile Marine Department, Chennai, visited Kakinada Deep Water Port on 11 September 2026 accompanied by S. Satyanarayana Murthy, Engineer and Ship Surveyor and Surveyor in Charge, MMD Tuticorin. The visit comprised a meeting with the senior management of Kakinada Seaports Limited (KSPL), the operator of the port, a meeting with the maritime stakeholders of Kakinada, and the statutory survey and certification of the port's tug fleet under the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 (Act No. 24 of 2025).

At the port office, the Principal Officer was received by Mr M Muralidhar, Chief Operating Officer, Capt. Jacob Satyaraju, Vice President (Operations), Capt. Ravi [Surname, Designation] and the KSPL marine team. The discussion covered the compliance position of the port's craft under the 2025 Act, the survey programme for the remaining tugs in the fleet, crew certification and manning requirements, and the support that the Department would extend to the port during the transition to the new statutory framework.

The Principal Officer also held a meeting with maritime stakeholders of Kakinada, comprising local shipowners, shipbuilders, ship repair yards, recruitment and placement service licence (RPSL) holders, ship management companies and manning agencies, at [venue]. The meeting reviewed the obligations of each category of stakeholder under the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 and the rules made thereunder, and heard the practical difficulties encountered in the transition. [Issues raised, in one or two sentences.] The Principal Officer assured the stakeholders that the Department would examine the issues raised and communicate its response through [MMD Visakhapatnam / the office of the Principal Officer], and invited them to bring compliance questions to the Department at an early stage rather than at the point of survey or inspection. The Principal Officer also visited [yard name], where vessels are under construction, and reviewed the arrangements for survey during construction under the 2025 Act.

The survey of the tug VARUNA 3 (IMO 1127269) was carried out alongside by the Principal Officer and the Engineer and Ship Surveyor, covering hull, machinery, life saving and fire fighting appliances and the vessel's documentation. On satisfactory completion, [certificates] were issued and handed over on the quay to the Master and the KSPL marine team.

The Mercantile Marine Department, Chennai exercises jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with sub offices at Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin. The Department continues to engage port operators across the region so that port craft are brought within, and maintained under, the survey and certification regime of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025.