Japan's MOL eyeing made-in-India ships

Plans to become India's second-largest shipping firm

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA

Buoyed by maritime reforms announced in the Budget, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) — the world's second-largest shipping company — is looking to raise its fleet here with locally built vessels and is in talks to place orders on Indian shipyards.

"We're the second largest shipping company in the world. This is also the target we have set for India — to become the second largest such company in the country," Anand Jayaraman, executive officer for the South Asia Middle East Region, said at an interaction in New Delhi.

The company owns a fleet of 935 vessels globally, with a significant share in energy transportation across the globe.

In India, its fleet primarily comprises crude oil carriers and automobile carriers.

"We have been discussing having our ships made in India — in the near future, India will become a shipbuilding nation. As one of the biggest ship owners, we will be having ships in India," said Jayaraman.