The trade between India and Bangladesh by river route, despite its perceived potential, has not picked up. Led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a fresh India-Bangladesh initiative, Ecosystems for Life, is now on to promote insights into trans-boundary issues across the three major river systems, namely the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna.

A joint research project has been carried out, focusing on sustainable international navigational route between Ashuganj (Bangladesh) and Karimganj (Assam,India). The objectives were to identify the causes of the deteriorating conditions of the river systems and the volume of traffic as well as approaches for improving and maintaining navigability in-line with the principles of integrated water resources management and sustainable navigation. Discharge, water level, hydro-graphic survey charts, satellite images, maps and traffic data have been analysed to understand prevailing morphological processes and water traffic on the rivers. To disseminate the findings, a day-long workshop was held at Savar, Bangladesh, in March last year with participation of experts from both the countries. A policy dialogue was held in Guwahati on December 10, 2012, to explore joint policy options to enhance the shared vision on issues pertaining to trans-boundary inland navigation.

PE, hedge fund investors betting big on shipping industry

Private equity takes to the high seas, says a recent report in the Financial Times . According to the report, leading private equity and hedge fund investors are increasing their bets on the struggling shipping industry by buying ships and purchasing loans from European banks that finance the sector. It is assumed that the shipping will turn round in 2014. Alternative investors that have put capital to work in the sector include Apollo, Blackstone, Canterbridge, Fortres, Oaktree Capital and WL Ross. The banks that have sold shipping loans in recent months include HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the report says quoting unnamed sources.

In most cases, the loans are being bought at a substantial discount. The shipping industry’s downturn started from around 2008, largely due to the excess capacity thrown up by the arrival of too many ships. It will be rash to claim that the situation has improved since then. Tankers, dry bulk carriers, container ships all have been hit hard by the global economic slowdown and the market remains volatile. Yet, a section of investors are keen to do deals in this sector hoping that supply and demand will come into balance in the not-too-distant future.

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