MARINE AIDS TO NAVIGATION BILL

MARINE AIDS TO NAVIGATION BILL

Subject : Legislations

Context :Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, 2021 by voice vote.

Concept :

• It aims to regulate state-of-the-art technologies of marine navigation which was earlier used to tangle in statutory provisions of Lighthouse Act, 1927.
• A navigational aid is any kind of marker which aids the traveler in navigation, usually nautical or aviation travel. Common types of such aids include lighthouses, buoys, fog signals, and day beacons.
• Key Points
• Replacement of Lighthouse Act: It is proposed to replace the nine decades old colonial Lighthouse Act, 1927, to incorporate the global best practices, technological developments and India’s International obligations in the field of aids to marine navigation.
• It also provides for identification and development of heritage lighthouses.
• The Lighthouse Act is an act relating to the provision, maintenance and control of lighthouses. It was enacted by the Brtishers in 1927.
• Empowerment of DGLL: It provides for empowering Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) with additional power and functions such as vessel traffic service, wreck flagging, training and certification, implementation of other obligations under International Conventions, where India is a signatory.
• Offences: It comprises a new schedule of offences, along with commensurate penalties for obstructing and damaging the aids to navigation, and non-compliance with directives issued by the Central Government and other bodies.
• Aids to Navigation Cess: Every ship arriving at or departing from any port in India will have to pay cess at rates notified by the Central government.
• Currently, the Central government, as per the provisions of the Lighthouse Act, levies light dues on all the foreign going ships arriving at or departing from any port in India.
• Light dues are the charges levied on ships for the maintenance of lighthouses and other aids to navigation.