CoP to be converted to state maritime board, rules are being drafted: Kamat

Panaji: State govt has begun the process for the captain of ports department to transition towards a state maritime board, said minister for ports Digambar Kamat on Sunday. Kamat said that the department has already started drafting the rules for the state maritime board in compliance with the Indian Ports Act, 2025 passed by Parliament.

Kamat said that with the Centre notifying the Indian Ports Act, 2025, each state needs to implement the provisions of the central law.

“They are framing the rules now and Goa govt is also framing the rules in conformity with the ports act. Till such time that we frame the rules and constitute the maritime board, the captain of ports will continue. Once the maritime board is notified, the captain of ports will be changed to state maritime board.,” said Kamat.

He provided this data while announcing that the inauguration of the new captain of ports terminal in the state capital, which was scheduled to be held on Monday, has been postponed since chief minister Pramod Sawant is unavailable.

Department officials claim that a new date and time for the inauguration will be announced soon.

However, some govt officials said that the decision to cancel the inauguration was taken after former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes, who also served as the captain of ports, highlighted a discrepancy in govt procedure.

Gomes said that with the Indian Ports Act, 2025, replacing the colonial-era Indian Ports Act of 1908, govt could not go ahead with the inauguration.

“Port management now should be with the state maritime board. Naming the new building to be inaugurated as captain of ports will neither be in accordance with law nor your presence will make it legal,” said Gomes.

Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation began construction of the department’s administrative office before the Covid-19 pandemic and the project has missed multiple deadlines. The Rs 49 crore terminal has been developed as a three storey structure on the Mandovi riverfront. The terminal is based on the design of a ship with the total built up area standing at 4,405sqm.