10 Largest Shipping Companies in India

Wondering about the largest shipping companies in India?  We were too.  For as long as civilizations have existed, there has been a need to transport goods from one location to another.  How this task was achieved varied from one era to the next.  At times, people would make long, arduous treks from one place to the next, exchanging goods in places where large groups of people congregated.  From there, merchants rode on horseback when conducting business on land or used massive ships when they wanted to exchange goods that were only available in distant lands.  

Today, just about every conceivable form of shipping exists, ranging from the most simple examples cited above to the much more sophisticated iterations of recent times.  Where newspapers and pizzas were once delivered on the bicycle, we now benefit from the on-demand luxuries afforded us by drones.  All of this cuts down on the waiting time we used to dread and allows us to get more done faster.

If you are interested, you might also want to check out our list of 11 largest container shipping companies in the world. Who knows, you might even see one of the largest shipping companies in India on that list. India is no stranger to advances in the shipping industry either.  With hundreds of unique firms providing an array of services to help get large quantities of goods from point A to point B, the country is enjoying a great moment in productivity, largely brought about by the transportation of goods and offshore work. 

With this in mind, we were curious about which Indian shipping companies were the largest in this growing industry.  In an effort to get to the bottom of this, we used three measurements: market capitalization; revenue; and assets, as a means of sizing up all of the competition.  Using some valuable data aggregation sources, we assessed the rankings of companies in these three categories and gave them a score for each.  For example, if a firm was ranked as number one, they would get a 1.  If they were ranked second, they would get a 2, and so forth.  We then added up the scores from the three categories to get a total score for the relative size of a company.  Those companies with the ten lowest scores received a place reflective of their score on our top ten list. Without further ado, below are the companies as we found them in order of size from smallest to largest.  

10. ABG Shipyard

ABG Shipyard is a shipbuilding and shipping company based in Ahmedabad, India with other operations being carried out in Surat and Dahej, Gujarat. Founded in 1985, the firm boasts over three decades of industry-leading shipping services throughout India, including ship design, shipbuilding, and ship repair.  Beyond this, as an integral piece in the ABG group of companies, ABG Shipyard offers ship maintenance by way of its manufacturing unit located in Goa. The conglomerate is home to over 3500 employees and was only the second corporate shipyard to receive a license from the Indian government to warships and various other vessels for the Indian Navy. With a product line ranging from anchor-handling tugs and offshore supply vessels to self-loading and self-discharging bulk carriers, ABG Shipyard serves as a standard bearer for other shipping firms throughout the subcontinent.

9. Seamec

With over a decade of experience providing a broad range of services in the Indian offshore oilfield industry, Seamec has made a name for itself as a major provider of Diving Support Vessel (DSV) services.  Based in Mumbai, India, the firm boasts an employee base of over 500 employees, harnessing dynamic infrastructural capabilities offered by their six-ship fleet. Their services include repair, maintenance, subsea inspection, and light construction in order to support offshore oil production efforts. Also, listed on the Stock Exchange of Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., Seamec has enjoyed national recognition and is now firmly rooted as one of India’s largest shipping companies.

8. Shreyas Shipping

Founded in 1988, this Mumbai-based firm provides feeder and logistics services, while also working with various port agencies throughout India. As an employer of over 2,000 workers, Shreyas Shipping & Logistics leads the market in domestic coastal container shipping and is the flagship enterprise of the Transworld Group. The company’s fleet includes nine vessels, which provide services both domestically as well as internationally to Bangladesh and the Middle East. Listed on both the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. and the Bombay Stock Exchange, Shreyas is an industry leader in multimodal transportation, while also offering fixed-day weekly service between all coastal ports in India as well as ODC and project cargo transportation services.

7. GOL Offshore

Offering an array of services to upstream gas and oil producers, GOL Offshore, the next one on the list of largest shipping companies in India serves as a major name in India’s shipping and offshore services industry. Founded in 1983, the company boasts a service portfolio that ranges from marine construction and drilling services to air logistics and terminal services. What’s more, in addition to servicing the coastal ports throughout the Indian subcontinent, GOL Offshore also has a presence in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, and the North Sea. The Mumbai-based firm operates via a 33-piece fleet, which includes 12 tugs, three barges, two drilling ships, four anchor-handling tug and supply vessels, and six platform supply vessels, among others. As the nation’s third-largest shipping company in terms of operating revenue, GOL Offshore makes a clear case for themselves as one of the biggest shipping companies in India.

6. Mercator

Previously known as Mercator Lines Ltd., Mercator, the next one on the list of largest shipping companies in India has irons in a number of different shipping-related fires. For example, the Mumbai-based firm is involved in oil, coal, and gas dredging, as well as commodity transportation via its subsidiaries: Mercator Oil and Gas Ltd., and Mercator Offshore Ltd. Additionally, Mercator serves as India’s second-largest private sector shipping company in terms of sheer tonnage. Founded in 1983, one of the group’s major claims to fame is its ability to conduct groundbreaking work in previously uncharted areas, such as the Tapti River, thus opening new navigational routes. With over 2,000 employees in the company, the Mercator Group represents one of India’s most significant players in the shipping and offshore industry.

5. Essar Shipping

Founded in 1945 and based in Mumbai, Essar Shipping, the number five on our list of largest shipping companies in India is a public Ltd. Company, which forms part of the Bombay Stock Exchange.  From a metrics standpoint, the firm is the fourth-largest shipping company in all of India in terms of revenue and total assets.  On the business side of things, Essar provides an array of services, which range from crude oil and bulk cargo shipping to contract drilling. It does this in large part with the aid of its 26-vessel fleet, which enables the firm to handle 355,000 tons of dry bulk cargo and 320,000 barrels of petroleum products.  Among all of these impressive feats, perhaps the most impressive is the company’s attention to detail.  In 1995, Essar became the first Indian firm to receive the International Safety Management Code (ISM), providing further proof that although Essar has what it takes to be one of the largest shipping companies in India, it still values the safety of its nearly 400 employees above all else.

4. Reliance Defence

Celebrating its 20th year of business this year, Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd., previously known as Offshore Engineering Company Limited and Pipavav Shipyard Limited & Pipavav Defence is a Mumbai-based shipbuilding and heavy industry company. The firm boasts a shipyard spread over 500 acres, with more than 720 meters of exclusive waterfront, which allows it to do business with an array of other shipping partners and accommodate ships weighing up to 400,000 tons. Among the products and services offered by Reliance Defence are heavy engineering, shipbuilding, repairs and conversions, and offshore & engineering work. As the third-largest shipping firm in India with respect to market capitalization, and the second-largest in terms of assets, Reliance Defence has little trouble carving out a sizeable piece of the shipping and offshore sector for itself.

3. Gujarat Pipavav

As a titan of manufacturing offshore supply and merchant vessels, Gujarat Pipavav is representative of one of the premier shipping and offshore services firms in all of India.  In terms of sheer market capitalization, the company is the largest in the subcontinent, with over 1.078 billion dollars to its name.  Operated by APM Terminals, one of the largest container terminal operators in the world, Gujarat Pipavav functions as a public-private company, with service offerings ranging from shipbuilding to the construction of merchant vessels.  There are over 4,000 employees working in its Mumbai headquarters and elsewhere. Now, let’s see the top two on our list of largest shipping companies in India.

2. GE Shipping

Founded in 1948, this Mumbai-based company whose initials stand for Great Eastern Shipping occupies the private sector as a shipping firm.  The majority of its business dealings are split into two parts, consisting of offshore activities and shipping.  Within this, Great Eastern’s offerings include the transportation of dry bulk commodities as well as gas, petroleum and crude oil products.  Under its offshore business, GE Shipping works with oil companies to operate offshore exploration and production services.  With over 2,000 employees on the payroll, Great Eastern serves as the largest private sector shipping company in all of India, the second largest in terms of market capitalization and revenue, and the third-largest in terms of assets.

1. Shipping Corp of India

Rounding out our list of the largest shipping companies in India is, by our methodology, the largest of them all.  Founded in 1961 and based in Mumbai, the Shipping Corporation of India was initially two different companies; Western Shipping Corporation and Eastern Shipping Corporation; which were ultimately merged into one. The company has made a name for itself by offering a range of services spanning bulk carrier and tanker services, offshore activities, and liner and passenger services. With a workforce of over 3,000 employees operating through 79 different ports, Shipping Corp has generated significant attention both domestically and abroad. Major clients include the Indian Oil Corporation, the Steel Authority of India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Shell, British Gas, Tata Tea, and many others. As the fourth-largest shipping firm in terms of market cap and the largest in both revenue and assets, there’s no denying the Shipping Corporation of India’s rightful place atop our list of the largest shipping companies in India.