15 Best Shipping Companies in India (2023)

Looking for the best shipping companies? Here in this post, we’ve curated the list of the top 15 best shipping companies in India based on their range of services, business operations, market capitalization, and more.

The Indian shipping industry plays a crucial role in the economic growth of the country. About 90% of the Indian trade market runs overseas.

This volume contributes to 70% in terms of value and 95% in terms of volume.

The Indian shipping industry is the 14^th largest fleet in the world among developing countries. Many companies are actively working for the industry with values, proper analysis, and determined work.

The shipping companies mentioned in this list have contributed significantly to the Indian industry.

Top Shipping Companies in India

Shipping Companies in India	Year of Estd.	HO
Great Eastern Shipping Company	1948	Mumbai
Essar Shipping Limited	1945	Mumbai
Shipping Corporation of India	1950	Mumbai
Global Offshore Services	1983	India
Shreyas Shipping Company	1988	Mumbai
Varun Shipping	1971	Mumbai
DTDC	1990	Bengaluru
Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited	1973	Mumbai
ABG Shipyard	1985	Mumbai

Best Shipping Companies in India

Here is the list of top shipping companies in India where Mumbai, Cochin, Vishakhapatnam, and Gujarat have a major share in the Indian Shipping Industry based on revenue, years of experience, and quality standards.

So without further ado, let’s take a closer look at all these best shipping companies.

1. The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.

Shipping Corporation of India is a government of India public sector group that manages vessels serving both national and international lines. Their main domains include cruise liners and passenger services, and large trunk vessels for domestic services. The is arguably one of the best shipping companies in India.

The total number of employees as of 2019 is 675. They have safety equipment installed in the vessels.

Some of their major clients are Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, TATA Tea, Shell, and GSI.

2. Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as a fully owned Government of India company. In the last three decades, the company has emerged as a forerunner in the Indian Shipbuilding & Ship repair industry. This yard can build and repair the largest vessels in India and is one of the best shipping companies in India.

This GOI Enterprise is covered under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Water Ways and has its business operations under two broad heads – shipbuilding and ship repair. Cochin Shipyard was conceived in the year 1969 when a team surveyed various locations in India before selecting Cochin for the launch of the first Greenfield Shipbuilding Yard in the country. The company has Miniratna status with several facilities.

There are 5 types of services it offers Shipbuilding, ship repair, marine engineering, financials, and other facilities with continuous and sustainable improvisation of the infrastructure, which is a key element in the quality and timely completion of the final products and services delivered.

3. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited aptly called “Ship Builder to the Nation”, is one of India’s leading Defence public sector and one of the top shipping companies in India undertaking shipyard under the Ministry of Defence. The company has main areas of business are the construction of warships and submarines with facilities situated at Mumbai and Nhava (under development).

Currently, it can build warships, submarines, and merchant ships up to 40,000 DWT since its establishment in the year 1979. For outfitting work, the company has a large number of workshops with sophisticated equipment and machines specific to hull fabrication and ship construction work.

The Company has qualified manpower to implement CAD/CAM/CIM using the latest ship design software, operating from several workstations having the latest computer hardware to provide, up-to-date design and production support, commensurate with the yard’s capabilities.

4. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd

The roots of GRSE go back to 1884 when it was a small workshop to repair vessels of the River Steam Navigation Company. It is arguably one of the oldest shipping companies in India which got registered under the Companies Act, of 2013, and started its new journey as Garden Reach Workshops (GRW) Limited.

The Shipyard has built a wide array of vessels, from world-class Frigates to Fast Attack Crafts. GRSE is the only Defence Shipyard to have diversified into the engineering business with a product profile of pre-fabricated steel bridges, various deck machinery items & assembly/ testing/ overhauling of marine diesel engines.

GRSE has established the Virtual Reality Lab for achieving better ergonomics and a depth understanding of the details of the Ship in the Design Stage itself. Post modernization and revitalization, the shipyard can build 20 ships (08 large & 12 small) concurrently.

5. Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd

Great Eastern Shipping Company is India’s largest private-sector shipping company with a period of experience of over 60 years. It controls two main business segments- shipping and offshore. The shipping business mainly involves transporting materials like petroleum products, natural gas, and crude oil.

It is an ISO-certified organization with many nominations and awards for its work in the field. Under it, about 46 vessels and 32 tankers designed with state-of-the-art technology carry products across the countries.

It controls the offshore operation with its wholly-owned subsidiary Greatship Limited. The company emphasizes the safety of the workers by installing many facilities in the vessels.

6. Essar Shipping Limited

Essar Shipping Company now known as Essar Shipping Ports and Limited is a company started for the global energy business. The company operates 26 vessels currently. They handle approximately eight million barrels of crude oil, 320,000 barrels of petroleum products, and 355,000 trunks of dry bulk.

They have invested about 28 B USD in total with 4 key sectors working to transport petroleum products across global borders. More than 25 companies have invested in Essar shipping limited.

Apart from shipping, the group has many other domains including mining, technology, oil field projects, etc. The market capitalization of the company is about 200 C in Indian money and has a clean record of increase in profit rate in the last ten years.

7. ABG Shipyard Limited

ABG Shipyard Limited is among the largest private-sector shipbuilding yard with shipping services in India and nearby countries. It is an ISO-certified company with special trunks and vessels to export dry bulk.

It builds a range of large commercial vessels including self-loading and self-discharging bulk carriers, container ships, floating cranes, and driving ship containers. It was awarded a contract to build pollution control vessels.

Apart from shipping services, the company also runs units for ship repair, design, and building. Some of the renowned peers of the company are Bharat shipyard limited and western shipyard limited.

8. Global Offshore Services Ltd.

Global Offshore Services Ltd is an offshore company serving many important clients with the transportation of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. In four decades of their experience, they have crossed many milestones.

The company owns one of the largest fleets of trunks, vessels, and dry bulk carriers and transports things across the world from national to international lines.

The company also supplies commercial vessels to many renowned clients.

9. Dredging Corporation of Inda Ltd.

The Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCI) was established in the year 1976 to provide dredging services to the Major Ports of the country in India. What makes DCI one of the top shipping companies in India is that it’s a pioneer organization in the field of dredging and maritime development. DCI is fully equipped to offer the complete range of dredging and allied services to users in India and Abroad and to provide vital inputs for national development.

Its Head Office is strategically situated on the east coast of India at Visakhapatnam and it aids to ensure continuous availability of the desired depths in the shipping channels of the major and minor Ports, Indian Navy, Fishing Harbors, and other maritime organizations.

Moreover, the company serves the Nation in a variety of ways, be it capital dredging for the creation of new harbors, deepening of existing harbors, or maintenance dredging for the upkeep of the required depths at various Ports along the 7,500 Kms coastline of India. DCI owns the most modern and sophisticated fleet consisting of two Cutter Suction Dredgers, Ten Trailer Suction Dredgers, one Backhoe Dredger one inland, and other ancillary Crafts.

10. Shreyas Shipping Company (Transworld)

Shreyas Shipping Company is an Indian-flagged vessel-owning unit of the renowned Transworld group is a leading shipping company covering almost all major ports. It has a fleet of 13 vessels with a capacity of over 23,000 TEUs connecting the Indian subcontinent with Bangladesh and the Middle East.

The major sects of services are Indian coastal feeder transshipment services, Multimodal coastal logistics, Domestic and Exim liner, etc.

They also serve the international market with petroleum products, coal, and metals along with regional works.

11. DTDC

DTDC is one of the most preferred courier and shipping companies in India with qualified professionals running the major segments. The company handles almost 13 Million shipments every month that include both domestic and international clients.

Their other domains of business are couriers in India, the Indian postal service, Blue dart express, and Ekart. The other services include delivery, express mail, and third-party logistics. About 13,000 total employees are working in the different port and non-port units.

In 2013, DTDC acquired 70 % of Nikkou Logistics and fifty-three percent of the French couriers.

12. Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited

Formerly known as Bharati Shipyard Limited, BDIL began as a small partnership firm and later evolved into a limited company in 1996. With its state-of-the-art technology and fabrication facilities, it has branch units in many cities including Kolkata, Chennai, and Goa.

The company’s product portfolio evolved from small-sized vehicles to sophisticated defense manufacturing offshore vessels like PSVs, anchor handling support vessels, offshore support vessels, and midsized LNG-propelled vessels.

13. Mercator Limited

Mercator Limited is one of the best shipping companies in India founded in 1983 on the coast of Mumbai. The company is currently headed by CEO Mr. Shalabh Mittal and was earlier known as Mercator Lines Ltd. The company has the following areas of business operations such as dredging, oil and gas, coal, and Commodity Transportation.

It undertakes the transportation of various commodities ranging from Crude Oil, Petroleum Products – liquid & gas, and other bulk commodities like coal, iron ore, etc. for various national and international companies.

14. Varun Shipping Company Limited

Varun Shipping handles vessels and trunks to connect international ports with India. They also have offshore units working under different sets of businesses including coal and logistics.

The company also undertakes local courier orders to transport large and light bulks domestically. The company was ranked amongst the best shipping companies in India for three consecutive years.

15. Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd.

Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited India’s first private sector port operates an all-weather port located on the Southwest coast of Gujarat at a distance of 140 km Southwest of Bhavnagar and around 152 nautical miles North-west of Mumbai. Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd was incorporated on August 5 1992 as a public limited company.

The company was established to build construct operate and maintain the port at Pipavav District Amreli in the state of Gujarat India. In March 2010 the company received the Chemtech Leadership and Excellence Award 2009-2010 – Fastest-Growing Port in India.

In August 2010 APM Terminals Pipavav launched a successful IPO to raise Rs 500 crores from the market to fund improvements in infrastructure and financial restructuring.

Final Thoughts on Best Shipping Companies in India

The shipping companies in India also have a very important role in developing connections across the different ports and harbors while maintaining international overseas alliances.

The above shipping companies in India are ranked based on the annual income, market capital, orders taken in, and sales turnover.