India to exploit maritime resources to enhance global trade

Visakhapatnam: India looks forward to globalisation in a big way. There are a few aspects to be considered in succeeding towards the goal and they include effective communication, maintenance of international standards and marine transportation, said former Director General of DRDO V Bhujanga Rao.

Addressing the gathering at the inaugural of the 34th national convention of Marine Engineers that focused on the theme 'Contemporary Developments in Maritime Technologies' organised by the Institution of Engineers (India) (IEI) in association with Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) here on Friday, Dr Bhujanga Rao said the country that can have their best maritime support systems and technologies will certainly stand out in global commerce.

"For instance, if we could bring down the consumption of fuel by 50 percent, adding a new design of the ship, the trade will eventually go up by five times. Marine engineering plays an imperative role in enhancing global trade. However, the country is not exploiting as much as it could to tap the marine resources," he opined.

Like Japan and Taiwan that have become much richer, Dr Bhujanga Rao mentioned that India too has to tap the marine engineering sector to grow economically stronger. "Our marine infrastructure has to grow at least four-five times further and it is an investment the country has to make by nurturing the advanced technology which is not being done at the moment," Dr Bhujanga Rao stated, adding that innovative projects need to be completed in a time-bound manner rather than taking decades to see its fruition. He stressed the need to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies in both operation and maintenance of maritime assets to meet global competition.

Delivering his address, Director of National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai GA Ramadass brought the challenges in design of submersibles to the fore. He said that the implementation of the government's Blue Economy policy can be implemented by marine engineers.

Director NSTL Y Sreenivas Rao advised the forum to deliberate on coastal surveillance, coastline security and methods to reduce marine pollution. Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune Dr CP Ramanarayanan emphasised the need for using machine learning techniques to enhance maritime security.

The convention saw participation of a large number of participants from industries, academic institutes and R&D laboratories across the country. Chairman of Visakhapatnam Local Centre PVS Ganesh Kumar, Chairman, Marine Division Board, IEI Cdr Bhaskar M Bhandarkar, among others spoke. A souvenir was released on the occasion.