GMIS - CMEC (RIS) AMRIT KAAL SESSIONS - INNOVATIVE MECHANISMS FOR ENHANCING TONNAGE, SHIP REGISTRATION AND SHIP FINANCING

Amritkaal Session - Global Practices in Ship Registration Date: 27th Oct 2025, Time: 1200 - 1300 hrs

Ship registration models worldwide are broadly categorized into two main systems: closed registries and open registries. Closed registries, also referred to as national registries, uphold the genuine link requirement of Article 91 of the UNCLOS and restrict vessel registration to ships that are owned and operated by nationals or companies incorporated within the country. In contrast, open registries, often referred to as Flags of Convenience (FOCs), allow foreign shipowners to register their vessels under the flag of a country with which they have little or no substantive connection. Such registries have become highly attractive, and over 70 per cent of the world’s shipping capacity is registered under open registries, even though these ‘flag states’ own a negligible portion of these fleets. Over time, other forms such as the Special Ship Registry and the International Ship Registry have evolved to prevent ‘flagging out” of the national Fleet. This session will discuss the global best practices to strengthen the national registry and discuss the potential of an International Ship Registry to retain the fleet under the national flag.

Amritkaal Session: Innovative Mechanisms for Ship Financing Date: 27th Oct 2025, Time: 1400 -1530

The Indian shipbuilding industry is poised to make a quantum jump in capacity and capability to meet the potential targets of building 1000 large ships, which cannot be met solely through government funding. An innovative alternative financing model may need to supplement traditional financial institutions. For this, fractional ownership of Real-World Assets through Tokenization and innovative bonds could be the avenue to meet these financial requirements. In this session, prevalent and futuristic global practices in ship finance leveraging new-age technology will be explored to provide low-cost funding to the highly risky and capital-intensive shipbuilding sector. The session will also discuss innovative processes like ‘Securitization’, for pooling port revenue streams, shipping receivables, or lease rentals into tradeable financial instruments, can open the maritime sector to a diverse range of investors with varying risk–return appetites - including retail investors, pension funds, and insurance companies. The session will also aim to discuss innovative mechanisms like the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs). In view of the above, the session is proposed to be conducted in the form of a panel discussion with a lead presentation on the session's theme.

CMEC (RIS) Session: Global Tonnage Tax Regimes Date: 27 October 2025, Time: 1600 -1700 hrs

The core principle of tonnage taxation is that the tax payable by ‘qualifying’ shipping companies is calculated based on the Net Tonnage (NT) of ‘qualified’ ships, instead of the ‘actual’ accounting profits from the operations of the vessel. Further, the computation of the tax liability is derived from two primary approaches. In one Model, tonnage income is first calculated on a per-day per ton basis, grossed over the total operational days, and the tax liability is determined by applying the prevailing CIT rate to the annual deemed tonnage income. In the second model, Annual Tonnage Tax liability is directly levied on the registered NT of the ship, irrespective of income, operational days, etc. The session is intended to discuss global best practices and the impact of tonnage tax to incentivise ship registration.