India Coastal Waters Entry Rules 2026: Who Is Covered and What Has Been Deferred to April 2027

The India coastal waters entry rules, formally the Merchant Shipping (Regulation of Entry of Ships into Coastal Waters) Rules, 2026, were notified on 16 September 2026 as G.S.R. 815(E) and came into force on publication in the Gazette. They replace the 2012 port entry rules. A foreign ship is covered if it operates in or navigates through Indian coastal waters, whether or not it enters a port, anchorage or offshore facility. DGMA Circular No. 69 of 2026, dated 14 October 2026, gives ships already operating in or permitted entry to those waters until 1 April 2027 to meet the class requirement and the salvage and marine pollution response contract requirement.

This article sets out what the India coastal waters entry rules and the circular say, from the Gazette text, the circular and the Merchant Shipping Act 2025. A port call is no longer the test for whether a foreign ship falls inside the regime, so the scope question comes first.

A five-minute video summary of the rules follows.

Which Ships the India Coastal Waters Entry Rules Cover

Rule 2 applies the Rules to all Indian ships and to all other ships operating in or navigating through the coastal waters of India, whether or not they enter any port, anchorage, offshore facility or other place in India. Warships, naval auxiliaries and other State-owned ships used only for non-commercial purposes are excluded. The Rules take the meaning of coastal waters from the Merchant Shipping Act 2025, section 3(12): any part of the territorial waters of India, together with any part of the adjoining maritime zones of India within the meaning of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976.

Neither the Rules nor the circular gives a distance from the coast. Section 307(1) of the Act, which the Rules use for control measures and detention, speaks of the port, terminal, anchorages, port facilities, offshore facilities and the territorial waters. The texts read for this article do not settle how far beyond the territorial sea the requirements will be enforced.

What a Foreign Ship Has to Hold Under the Entry Rules

Rule 6(1) requires every foreign ship that enters, is present in or sails out of an Indian port, seeks port facilities, or transits or operates within coastal waters to maintain three things.

• Insurance. Rule 4 requires insurance to the extent required under the Act, obtained only from a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, from an insurer authorised by the Central Government under rule 9 (a designated or accepted insurer), or from another Indian insurer the Government specifies. On entry the certificate of insurance or other financial security must be valid on the day of entry and for at least three months from entry, or for the expected stay if that is longer. Where an annually renewed certificate has less than three months to run, the port authority may allow entry against a written undertaking to renew and to submit proof of renewal. The port authority verifies cover from the insurer’s website, a written confirmation from the insurer or its correspondent, or other means the Administration specifies.
• Class. A valid certificate of class from a member of the International Association of Classification Societies or from a recognised organisation, for ships above the ages in the table below. Age runs from the date of delivery recorded in the safety construction certificate (rule 5(2)).
• Salvage and marine pollution response contracts. A valid salvage contract and a valid marine pollution response contract with a salvor under the applicable rules made under the Act (rule 6(1)(c)). The Merchant Shipping (Wreck and Salvage) Rules, 2026 require registered owners to keep contracts with a retained salvor and a retained marine pollution response operator, and a single contract where one entity is approved for both.

Rule 6(9) adds that the age norms set under section 307(1) of the Act for Indian ships apply, with the necessary changes, to foreign ships operating or navigating in coastal waters whether or not they later enter a port or other place in India.

Documents Before Entry

For a ship seeking entry to a port, the operator or shipping agent must submit the documents needed to show compliance with rule 6(1) to the port authority at least 48 hours before the ship enters the port limits (rule 6(2)). Rule 8 and the First Schedule add a signed declaration, made by the operator through the shipping agent, that the agent’s appointment is valid for the whole stay, that the ship holds valid insurance and class under the Rules, that valid salvage and marine pollution response contracts are in force, and that the documents are true. An agent whose declaration proves false or misleading can be refused further declarations. Rule 6(2) is written for port entries; the Rules do not apply the 48-hour requirement in terms to a ship that only transits.

What Circular 69 Defers to 1 April 2027

DGMA issued the circular under rule 11, which lets the Administration exempt a ship or category of ships from a requirement for a specified time. The circular records that empanelment of salvors and marine pollution response operators has started under the Wreck and Salvage Rules, 2026, and that the contract requirement in rule 6(1)(c) cannot be complied with until approved providers are notified. It gives ships already operating in, or otherwise permitted entry into, Indian coastal waters six months, up to 1 April 2027, to comply with the additional requirements, and by then owners and operators are to meet the revised classification requirements and hold the salvage and marine pollution response contracts.

The circular names the class requirement and the salvage and pollution response contracts. It does not mention the insurance provisions of rule 4, and this article does not treat them as deferred. Gard’s note of 21 October 2026 reports that empanelment was still in progress at that date.

Enforcement and Casualties

A ship that does not comply is liable to control measures and detention under section 307(1) of the Act (rule 6(8)), and rule 12 lets the Central Government direct that entry be denied or a ship be detained or moved. Where no specific penalty exists, rule 13 sets a penalty of up to fifty thousand rupees, with a further penalty of up to five thousand rupees for every day a continuing breach lasts. Rule 7 deals with casualties: a dispute over coverage between the owner, hull insurer and the P&I insurer is not to delay response measures; the insurer must respond and cooperate promptly; and if a ship is uninsured or the insurer cannot be reached within 24 hours of the Administration’s first attempt, the Administration may direct emergency response at the owner’s cost, which becomes a statutory debt.

Class certificate validity is part of this regime, so the position on overdue surveys matters too: see A Statutory Certificate Extension Is Not Permission to Keep Trading. How India now inspects foreign ships in port is covered in India’s Port State Control Rules 2026, and the full set of 2026 rules is mapped in India’s Merchant Shipping Rules 2026: A Map for Ship Managers.

Sources

The requirements above are taken from the Gazette text of the Rules and the circular; the Gard note was used as a cross-check. Confirm the current position with your agent and the DGMA website before a voyage, because the approved salvor list and further clarification were still awaited when the sources were read.

• Merchant Shipping (Regulation of Entry of Ships into Coastal Waters) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 815(E), 16 September 2026 (English text follows the Hindi)
• DGMA Circular No. 69 of 2026, 14 October 2026
• Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 (24 of 2025), sections 3(12) and 307
• Merchant Shipping (Wreck and Salvage) Rules, 2026, rule 30
• Gard, India introduces new requirements for ships in coastal waters, 21 October 2026 (cross-check)

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