India Carriage of Cargoes Rules 2026: What Dry Bulk Ships Must Hold and Check Before Loading

The India carriage of cargoes rules, the Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes and Oil Fuels) Rules, 2026, were notified on 2 September 2026 and came into force on publication in the Gazette. They apply to all Indian ships carrying the cargoes they cover, wherever the ship is, and to all other ships carrying or about to carry those cargoes within India, including coastal waters, ports and places in India. For dry bulk ships the working provisions are on solid bulk cargoes other than grain, cargo information, gas and oxygen instruments, acceptability for shipment, loading and unloading, and grain.

This article summarises the bulk cargo provisions of the India carriage of cargoes rules from the Gazette text. The rules also deal with timber deck cargoes, containers and verified gross mass, pesticides, stowage and securing, and the carriage of oil fuel, which are not covered here. They point to the IMSBC Code throughout, and the amendments to that Code that take effect on 1 January 2027 are set out in IMSBC Code Amendments (08-25): What Changes for Dry Bulk Cargoes From 1 January 2027.

What the India Carriage of Cargoes Rules Require Before Loading

Rule 6 requires the carriage of solid bulk cargoes other than grain to comply with SOLAS chapter VI and the relevant provisions of the IMSBC Code. Under rule 7 the owner and master must ensure that cargo information is made available by the shipper before cargo operations start, and the shipper must provide it sufficiently in advance for the necessary stowage and carriage precautions to be put into effect, in the IMO-recommended format, and confirm it in writing and by appropriate documents before loading. For a solid bulk cargo the information is that required by section 4 of the IMSBC Code, and for a bulk cargo not listed in the Code, the provisions of section 1.3 apply.

Rule 13 sets the conditions for acceptance. Before loading a solid bulk cargo the master must hold comprehensive information on stability and cargo distribution as per the standard loading conditions, in line with the Administration’s applicable notice, SOLAS regulation II-1/5-1, MSC/Circ.456 and MSC.1/Circ.1228, produced by a loading instrument approved by the competent authority or a recognised organisation. Concentrates and other cargoes that may liquefy are to be accepted only when the actual moisture content is below the transportable moisture limit, with an exception for specially constructed or fitted ships approved by the Administration for Indian ships or by the flag State for foreign ships. The information for such cargoes must include a signed certificate on moisture content and transportable moisture limit from an entity or laboratory approved by the Administration. The master must take special precautions for bulk cargoes whose chemical properties may create a hazard not covered by the IMDG Code.

Instruments, Loading and Grain

Rule 8 of the India carriage of cargoes rules requires every ship carrying a solid bulk cargo that may emit toxic or flammable gas or cause oxygen depletion to carry an appropriate gas or oxygen measuring instrument with the manufacturer’s instructions. Crew members are to be trained in its use within two weeks of joining, or before entering enclosed or confined spaces or before cargo operations that affect the atmosphere, whichever is earlier, and the training is recorded; the instrument is maintained and calibrated as the manufacturer requires.

Under rule 14 every ship loading solid bulk cargoes other than grain complies with the IMSBC Code and the Code of Practice for the Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers, and the master ensures cargo is loaded and trimmed to reasonable level to the boundaries of the cargo space to minimise shifting and keep stability. Rule 15 makes the shipper, owner, master and the ports involved responsible for following the duties in that Code of Practice and the terminal manual, requires an unlisted cargo or missing information to be taken to the Administration without delay, and requires a loading and unloading booklet for the ship, in English if not in a language the officers know. For grain, rule 16 requires compliance with the International Grain Code and a document of authorisation, and the master must satisfy the port State authority that the ship complies in its proposed loading condition; a ship without the document does not load grain until the master demonstrates compliance to the Administration or the port State authority of the port of loading.

Enforcement

Rule 17 of the India carriage of cargoes rules lets a surveyor survey the ship for the fittings and requirements for carriage of cargoes, and board a ship on a complaint or otherwise to verify compliance. A violation by the owner, company, master, shipper or any other relevant service provider is liable to penalty under the Act. The port state control side of India’s regime is in India Port State Control Rules 2026, and the 2026 rules are mapped in India’s Merchant Shipping Rules 2026: A Map for Ship Managers.

Sources

The summary above is taken from the English text of the Gazette notification. The annexures, including the moisture content and transportable moisture limit procedure (Annexure II) and the container mass verification procedure (Annexure I), are in the Rules.

• Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes and Oil Fuels) Rules, 2026, notified 2 September 2026 (English text follows the Hindi)

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