BJP MLA Kumar Kanani Blows Whistle on GMB ‘Extortion Racket’: Flags Severe Maritime Safety Breaches in Letter to Centre
By Special Correspondent: BHAVNAGAR: In an explosive political and administrative development, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, former Gujarat state minister, and current Varachha (Surat-Gujarat) MLA Kishore Kanani (popularly known as Kumar Kanani) has launched a blistering offensive against alleged rampant corruption, institutional extortion, and blatant maritime safety compromises within the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
In a detailed, evidence-backed representation dispatched to the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways—with copies marked to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)—Kanani has accused GMB’s In-charge Chief Nautical Officer (CNO), Captain B.N. Ladva, of running an unlawful parallel clearance mechanism labelled as “Permission Raj.” According to Kanani, this regime has generated tens of crores of rupees through illegal levies while directly jeopardising the lives of merchant marine crew members along Gujarat’s coastline.
Perilous Monsoon Clearances Flout DG Shipping Mandates
The gravest charge levelled by the legislator concerns the blatant bypass of central maritime safety protocols during peak monsoon weather. Under explicit directives issued by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), River Sea Vessels (RSV Type-II) and Inland Vessels (IV SOC) are strictly barred from undertaking rough open-sea coastal transits during hazardous weather and monsoon conditions due to their technical specifications, lower freeboard, and vulnerability to rough swells.
Despite these safety advisories, Kanani alleged that Captain Ladva authorised vessels in these restricted categories to ferry coal between Bhavnagar Port and Magdalla Port in Surat across the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Khambhat.
Citing official communication records from the board (Reference No. GMB/MD/e-0885/706/215), Kanani characterised these voyage permissions as “suicidal clearances.” By permitting vessels certified solely for sheltered or inland waterways to traverse open maritime channels laden with heavy bulk cargo, the authorities have compromised national maritime safety norms and treated seafarers’ lives as expendable, the MLA stated.
The Anatomy of ‘Mobilisation Permission’ and Extortion
Kanani’s petition outlines a calculated administrative mechanism allegedly engineered to extract undue fees from private maritime logistics operators.
Under statutory provisions outlined in the Inland Vessels Act, 2021 and the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, vessels holding valid statutory fitness certificates issued by the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) and DG Shipping operate under nationwide trading rights. These statutes provide no mandate for regional maritime boards to issue discretionary voyage-by-voyage clearances.
However, the complaint alleges that Captain Ladva created an unauthorised requirement known as “Mobilisation Permission” by introducing custom clearance layers within GMB’s digital operational platform, the Gujarat Port Operations & Facilitation Management System (GPOFMS).
Maritime logistics operators are allegedly coerced into applying for and paying substantial under-the-table sums to secure this unauthorised clearance before their vessels are allowed to mobilise.
Furthermore, the MLA pointed out a secondary extortion racket involving vessels older than 25 years. Regardless of whether these aging vessels fly Indian or foreign flags, and despite fulfilling statutory seaworthiness and class survey standards, an extralegal roadblock has been instituted. Local port officers routinely inspect and verify documents to generate a statutory Vessel Call Number (VCN) via the central National Logistics Portal (Marine). Yet, vessels are denied berthing until a discretionary, non-statutory clearance is granted directly from GMB’s central headquarters in Gandhinagar—a choke point that breeds systemic administrative delays and rent-seeking.
Four Piercing Questions Posed to the Union Government
Demanding an immediate probe and structural accountability, MLA Kumar Kanani placed four pointed questions before the Union Ministry of Shipping:
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Redundant Approvals: If a merchant vessel possesses legally mandated fitness and statutory safety certificates issued by the MMD and DG Shipping, under what legal framework is GMB’s Gandhinagar headquarters demanding discretionary, centralised personal clearances?
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Monsoon Defiance: Under whose political patronage or administrative authority were RSV-2 and Inland Vessels authorized to operate commercial coal freight runs along the Bhavnagar–Magdalla route during the monsoon, in open defiance of DG Shipping bans?
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Jurisdictional Violations: How were vessels surveyed and certified strictly for sheltered operations (Zone-3) granted permission to venture into dangerous, deep-water coastal sea corridors designated as Zone-2 and Zone-1?
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Portal Tampering: Given that no statutory clause requires ad-hoc port-level approvals for 25-year-old vessels holding valid classification certificates, why was an unauthorised clearance module grafted onto the GPOFMS portal to facilitate systemic financial collections?
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DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE EXPOSES SYSTEMIC MALPRACTICE
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• DEFIANCE OF CENTRAL DIRECTIVES:
Despite unambiguous standing instructions issued by DG Shipping Nautical
Advisor Captain Abul Kalam Azad restricting RSV-2 vessel movements during
turbulent weather, GMB head office issued irregular sailing clearances.
• HAZARDOUS COAL RUNS:
Official board correspondence confirms that RSV-2 vessels were cleared to
haul bulk coal across the Gulf of Khambhat from Bhavnagar to Magdalla in the
monsoon season, disregarding high swell warnings.
• THE "E-MAIL PERMISSION" SMOKING GUN:
Direct documentary evidence has surfaced via an official e-mail authorization
(Letter No. GMB/CNO/AHD/AJWAJBA/222/7670) bearing the signature of In-charge
Chief Nautical Officer Capt. B.N. Ladva. The communication granted direct
berthing approval for the cargo ship "SSL GUJARAT" at Adani Hazira Port,
proving that discretionary approvals outside regular statutory frameworks are
being issued from Gandhinagar.
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BJP LEGISLATOR'S "LETTER BOMB" RAISES POLITICAL TEMPERATURE
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The high-voltage submission by former minister Kumar Kanani has placed Gujarat's
administrative machinery in an awkward spotlight.
Despite the fact that a senior, sitting legislator from the ruling "double-engine"
BJP administration submitted dossiers containing granular documentary evidence
to top vigilance agencies and central ministries, immediate administrative
punitive action against the accused officials has remained conspicuously stalled.
Political observers note that when an influential ruling-party legislator is
compelled to go public against institutional corruption within a premier state
board, it serves as a revealing mirror to governance standards, highlighting
bureaucratic inertia and the urgent need for systemic administrative cleanup.
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Demands for Immediate CBI Probe and Transfer
Emphasising that institutional silence on this issue amounts to complicity, Kanani has sought swift intervention from the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The MLA insisted that an independent, high-level inquiry must unearth the financial trail connecting private shipping concessions to regulatory clearances issued by GMB.
As a prerequisite for a fair investigation, Kanani has urged the government to immediately transfer Captain Ladva out of his current portfolio, cautioning that his continued presence at the helm of maritime operations could lead to evidence tampering and intimidation of junior port officials.
The controversy has sent tremors through Gujarat’s maritime and industrial corridors, with shipping lobbies, logistics operators, and political observers awaiting decisive intervention from the Union Shipping Ministry.
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