The other, unheard navy

The Indian Merchant Navy Week is inaugurated by the Prime Minister today in 2015. It is an ode to the civilian, tourist and commercial seafaring arm of India, responsible for upholding its maritime economy.

Logo of the IMV; Source: Public Domain

30th of March 2015. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had just announced the Merchant Navy week, to celebrate the achievements of these seafarers and shipping industry. But what exactly is the merchant navy? Perhaps the Indian Navy steals all the thunder from these peacetime seafarers - and thus it becomes important to know about the ones who keep India’s economic lines running.

For the longest period of time, from the Indus Valley civilization, to the Guptas, to the Cholas, and the Mughals, the Indian subcontinent had seen numerous large empires and small kingdoms engaging in the vastly dangerous but also vastly rich overseas commercial trade. Roman ships brought their wines, and we gave them our spices.

The same occurred for textiles, and a range of other goods as well. India’s location as a peninsula sitting astride the routes between East Asia and China on one hand and Europe and the Middle East on the other definitely benefited its cause. But all this changed with the Portuguese, and then the English, establishing their dominance and monopoly over the sea trade routes. It took till Independent India to really find a state funded commercial merchant navy again - but when it did, it was instantly successful.

As a developing economy, India needs to fully exploit its resources to benefit livelihood. An exporter of many materials, including raw materials primarily, and requiring huge imports of oil and other goods, India needed a lot of merchant shipping  - thankfully, the merchant navy provided that sort of response, and it till this day carries on the task. Civilian sailors spend months or years away from their families to ensure the completion of crucial contracts and deliveries signed along the way, sea tourism, etc. and thus the Merchant Navy week from the 30th of March 2015 onwards marks an important reminder of their work.