Maritime Environmental Governance in India: Regulatory Gaps and Ecological Risks

The rapid expansion of global shipping has intensified concerns about the environmental consequences of vessel operations, particularly in relation to biological invasions, hazardous cargo incidents, and the effectiveness of regulatory enforcement. India’s recent maritime reforms, anchored in the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 and associated regulatory instruments, seek to update the country’s legal framework governing ship-based environmental risks. Despite these developments, important questions remain regarding the adequacy of the current regime in addressing contemporary ecological challenges arising from modern shipping activities. This paper evaluates selected aspects of India’s maritime environmental governance through three interconnected areas of inquiry. First, it assesses the regulatory design of the Draft Merchant Shipping (Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments) Rules, 2026 and considers their implications for preventing the spread of invasive aquatic species. Second, it examines the legal consequences of India’s continued non-accession to the international regime governing liability and compensation for hazardous and noxious substance incidents at sea. Third, it analyses the enforcement structure under the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, with particular attention to the use of administrative monetary penalties for certain pollution-related violations. By situating these issues within broader international regulatory approaches, the paper highlights institutional and legal limitations that may affect the effectiveness of India’s maritime environmental protection framework.