New arrival procedures are in place for yachts entering India whereby a Pre-Arrival Notification must be lodged with authorities up to 96 hours prior to arrival and an agent must be used for clearance formalities.

Published 3 months ago

NOA and Use of an Agent Mandatory

New arrival procedures are in place for yachts entering India whereby a Pre-Arrival Notification must be lodged with authorities up to 96 hours prior to arrival and an agent must be used for clearance formalities.

Cochin (Kochi) is a convenient port on India’s west coast for vessels heading westward to make passage through the Red Sea and into the Mediterranean.

Wade Alarie, moderator of the Red Sea Passage Facebook group, notified Noonsite of the new requirements after one of the group members experienced problems when clearing into India at Cochin.

Pre-Arrival Notification of Security (PANS)

All yachts entering Indian waters are now required to provide a Pre-Arrival Notification of Security (PANS), which must be sent by the skipper/captain or through an appointed agent at least 96 hours prior to arrival at a Port of Entry. See India Clearance for full details.

According to the Standard Operating Procedures provided by Indian Authorities for the Pre-Arrival Notification of Security (PANS), if a vessel arrives without prior-notification, it may be refused entry to India and escorted out of the port by Coastal Police, the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy to ensure it leaves safe Indian Waters.

Appointing an Agent is Mandatory

Indian authorities now require all yachts entering Indian waters to use an authorised agent for clearance formalities on arrival. This will incur additional charges and there is no “set” fee, therefore shop around and get a variety of quotes. Sample costs provided by Walter Cummins Shipping Agents, are as follows:

1- USD$25 per crew, including port charges.

2- USD$250 per vessel less than 60 foot.

3- Transfers to/from marina to offices at cost.

• See a list of authorised agents here.
• See full entry details for India here.

Wade Alarie comments, “This is very bad news for Cochin and India, because I predict cruising yachts will stop at Sri Lanka, where (oddly enough) they already have to use an agent. It’s a pity, because the Indian forms are all in English.”

Find out Sri Lanka formalities and costs here.

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Red Sea Passage Facebook Group

This Facebook Group is a closed group (you need to email wade@joana.ca to request membership) and private (which means it is not discoverable). There are nearly 800 members, including people who are making the passage, those that have already done it, those that are considering this route plus a limited number of shore side support agents in Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.

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