Parliament has recently passed two significant pieces of legislation: the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024, and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025, aimed at modernizing India’s maritime laws and aligning them with international standards. These reforms are crucial for enhancing India’s role in global shipping and trade.

Modernization of Maritime Law

Previously, India’s maritime sector was primarily governed by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1958 and the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of 1925. These laws were outdated and ill-equipped to address contemporary maritime challenges. The newly introduced bills aim to replace these colonial-era legislations with comprehensive, forward-thinking legal frameworks that promote clarity and efficiency in maritime operations.

Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024

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The article discusses the conceptualization of “maritime security” in Southeast Asia, highlighting the ongoing difficulty in defining this term among regional states. Commodore Sam Bateman (ret.) emphasizes that, despite its importance, there is no consensus on what elements should be included in the definition of maritime security. He identifies “wicked problems”—complex challenges like differing interpretations of international maritime law, maritime boundary disputes, and maintaining order at sea—that prevent solutions from being reached.

At a recent RSIS roundtable, participants agreed that key coastal Southeast Asian nations view maritime security as a broad concept encompassing various threats to state prosperity, including military, non-state, and environmental risks. While

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