Gujarat Maritime University, in association with the Directorate General of Maritime Administration, Government of India, successfully inaugurated Coast Connect 2026, a two-day workshop on the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025, on 22 August 2026 at the GMU campus, Gandhinagar. The workshop brought together stakeholders from across India’s maritime ecosystem to deliberate on opportunities, regulatory challenges and implementation of the new legislation.

The inaugural ceremony was graced by Shyam Jagannathan, IAS, Director General of Maritime Administration, as the Chief Guest, along with Prof. (Dr.) S Shanthakumar, Provost, Gujarat Maritime University, and Aniket Singh, DIG, Indian Coast Guard. In his welcome address, the Provost highlighted coastal shipping as a cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable mode of transportation, emphasising its potential to reduce logistics costs, strengthen connectivity, and advance the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat. The DIG highlighted the complementary relationship between maritime security and maritime commerce, along with the Coast Guard’s responsibilities in law enforcement, search and rescue, pollution response, and inter-agency coordination.

Delivering the inaugural address, Shyam Jagannathan, IAS, underscored the role of universities in fostering research, intellectual engagement and policy discourse to support effective legislative and regulatory frameworks. He highlighted the growing role of private and non-major ports in India’s maritime sector, emphasising the need for stronger Centre–State–industry partnerships in port development. He also called for deeper academic collaboration with Gujarat Maritime University in ship recycling, particularly in regulation, standardisation, training and certification. He drew attention to the welfare needs of the largely migratory and seasonal workforce and discussed green steel, carbon sequestration and the National Maritime Decarbonization Framework, including green ports and green ships. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to a sustainable, self-reliant and globally aligned pathway for the future of coastal shipping.

The workshop brought together experts and stakeholders from government, maritime administration, shipping, logistics, academia, technology, finance and coastal communities, including distinguished resource persons from the DGMA, INSA, LSC, IIM, DFCC, CIFT, Deloitte, Maersk Training, SETU, among others. The inaugural ceremony marked a significant beginning to Coast Connect 2026, reaffirming Gujarat Maritime University’s commitment to meaningful engagement among government, industry, academia and coastal communities and to building a contemporary, responsive and inclusive maritime regulatory framework.