A Saga of Growth and Prosperity
By Our Special Correspondent
 

The Shipping Corporation of India was established on 2nd October 1961 with the amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation. It started as a small Liner shipping company with just 19 vessels and has today metamorphosed into a giant conglomerate having interests in 12 different segments of shipping trade. Sailing through for nearly 4 decades, the SCI today has a significant presence on the global maritime map and is undoubtedly the country's premier shipping line. SCI owns and operates about 40% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically all areas of shipping business catering to both national and international trades. 

SCI has contributed immensely to the growth of India's Exim trade and at the same time is a gross earner and saver of precious foreign exchange for the country. SCI acted as a lifeline for the country during times of emergency and distress by ensuring continued and uninterrupted supply of crude oil for country's requirement.

SCI is a profitable commercial venture of Government of India and has an excellent track record of earning profits since inception except for a brief period when the entire shipping industry worldwide was under depression. It has been rated "Excellent" consecutively for record 9 times under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Government of India. Mindful of excellent track record of SCI, the Government of India bestowed the "Mini Ratna'.' status on SCI which meant enhanced delegation of powers to the Board for taking decisions on capital investment, Joint Venture formations, opening of new offices, etc. Consequent upon phased dismantling of Administered Price Mechanism (APM) from April 1998 onwards and abolition of "Cost Plus Mechanism", Indian Oil industry bestowed on SCI the Nodal Agency Status for making transportation arrangements for indigenous and imported crude. SCI has been meeting all the requirements of Indian oil industry by judiciously using its owned and leased tonnage.
 
SCI recently started a premium fastest container service to US in alliance with 2 other partners and is on the threshold of starting another service to Far East besides augmenting its existing service 10 UK Continent.

The Financial Year 2000-01 had been a memorable year for SCI when it declared record Gross Profit (Prov) of Rs.579 crores and a Net Profit (Prov.) Rs.402 crores which is the highest declared by any Indian Shipping Company including SCI till date. This superlative performance was a result of responding freight market together with certain pragmatic decisions taken by SCI. The various measures adopted by SCI which aided the spurt in the bottom line were judicious and optimal utilization of available tonnage by deploying it in most remunerative sectors, starting of new services, expeditious disposal of value destroyers or non-performing assets, alliances with the significant players in the market to enhance cargo availability and share expenses, administrative cost cutting, etc. 

The liberalization and globalisation of Indian economy presented SCI a whole lot of opportunities to grow and diversify. SCI could exploit these opportunities due to availability of an excellent fleet and the best trained manpower both onshore and offshore to operate it. 

Keeping in view the demand of nation's trade, SCI over the years di. versified in a large number of areas, and is today the only Indian shipping company operating Break Bulk service, Passenger service, International Container service, etc. SCI, however, is now undergoing a "corporate transformation" exercise to position itself as an international shipping company of repute. SCI  has appointed world renowned consultant M/s. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) to assist in delineating the future business strategy, improve business processes and benchmark them with the best in the world and frame a responsive I. T. enabled structure to meet its future needs. The exercise has now entered its implementation phase and it is expected that within next 2-3 years SCI would emerge as a quintessential organization not only for shipping industry but also for entire corporate world.

SCI is not only a profitable commercial enterprise but also a quality conscious and safety conscious organization.

In line with the worldwide trend of specialisations and core-competence, SCI has delineated a definitive course of action for the future. The thrust areas for growth and diversification in future would be energy transportation including the sunrise segment of LNG transportation and containerized cargo transportation. SCI would diversify in these areas either through direct capital investment or by forging strategic and symbiotic alliances with the significant players in the market. 

SCI has recently acquired stake in two and the only Indian LNG transportation contracts till date. LNG transportation is a highly capital intensive and technologically sophisticated segment of shipping trade, which till yesterday was the sole preserve of handful of developed nations. SCI has heralded India's entry into this esoteric field against a global bidding process. The presence of SCI in these LNG transportation contracts would go a long way in establishing itself a major LNG transportation player in the world.

SCI is not only a profitable commercial enterprise but also a quality conscious and safety conscious organization. SCI has been able to obtain Document of Compliance (DOC) for Phase II vessels under International Safety Management Code (ISM), which is patterned on ISO 9000 certification, one full year in advance of the deadline. SCI has received numerous awards from various international organizations for showing maximum emergency preparedness. SCI would sail in the future with quality tonnage and customer satisfaction in mind.

SCI possesses all the ingredients for emerging as a truly world class international shipping company and the endeavour of the Management is to facilitate release of an endless stream of energy presently lying un-utilised in the organization and channelise it for the future growth of the company and the nation.