THE
ORIGIN OF MANSA
The
original name of Mumbai and Nhava-Sheva Ship-Agents Association –
(MANSA) – was Bombay Steamer Agents Association (BSAA). In 1977,
the first halting steps were taken by some farsighted persons in the
profession to organize themselves into an association. Conditions in the port of Mumbai
(then Bombay)
were never easy. Ship owners and their “spouses”, the ship
agents, faced a host of problems and the ship agents who were in the
front line faced their impact. A monopolistic and uncaring port
organization made the ship agents get involved in performing functions
and solve problems which, in a well-run port, would either not arise or
would be taken care of by the port administration.
It was
against this background that the founding fathers of MANSA decided to
come together to address problems, seek solutions and influence the
authorities from a common platform. The persons who took this initiative
were M/s. Late Damodar M Parekh, Late Syed Dadeek Jalali, N.M. Mehta,
R.S. Cooper, D.S.Kumana and P.J. Dalal. It was their hope that in unity,
members of the profession would acquire strength, dignity and fellow
feeling and stop being treated as a doormat with ‘welcome’
written on it. It can be recorded with pride that this aspiration has
been eminently realized.
Before
1977, the interests of ship-agents were looked after by a group called
“The Committee of Shipping Interests in the Overseas Trade”,
consisting of ship owners and ship-agents. This committee slowly
disintegrated and then became defunct. Subsequently, the Shipping
Sub-committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry looked after
the interests of the ship-agents. This Committee still exists but it
primarily served the interest of its members, which includes exporters,
importers, C&F Agents etc. and does not cater exclusively to the
needs of the ship agents. Hence, the need for an exclusive body to deal
with issues of ship-agents was felt. It is against this backdrop that the
above-mentioned gentlemen met to form “Bombay Steamer Agents
Association”. Mr. N. M. Mehta was the first President and an ad hoc
committee consisting of: M/s. D.S. Kumana, R.S. Cooper, G. Oommen, S.P.
Iyer, S. B. Pathare, P.J.Dalal and Wg. Cdr. Pramanik (Retd.) was formed
to prepare the Articles of Association.
In 1979,
the first Annual General Meeting was held and the first Executive
Committee of the Association was elected for the period 1980-82 with Mr.
N. M. Mehta as the President and MR. D.S. Kumana and Mr. D.M. Parekh as
the Vice Presidents.
Thereafter,
Executive Committees have been elected every two years. The names of
President and Vice-Presidents of Executive Committee are given below in
chronological order:
Mr. N M
Mehta, President, Mr. D M Parekh and Mr. S S Joshi, Vice Presidents
(1982-84).
Mr. S S
Jalali, President; Mr. R S Cooper and Wg. Cdr. N L Pramanik (Retd.), Vice
Presidents (1984-86).
Mr. R S
Cooper President; Wg. Cdr. N L Pramanik (Retd.), Mr. L D Parekh M/s
Parekh Marine Agencies Pvt. Ltd., Vice Presidents (1986-88, 1988-90).
Mr. R S
Cooper continued to be the President of the Association until 4th March
1993.
Mr. K.
Kumar, President, Mr. S B Pathare and Mr. S M Jalali, Vice Presidents
(1993-94).
Mr. V.
Puri, President, Mr. D K Lal and Mr. L D Parekh, Vice Presidents
(1994-96).
Mr. D.K.
Lal, President, Mr. S M Jalali and Mr. K P Desai, Vice Presidents
(1996-98).
Mr. S M
Jalali, President, Mr. K P Desai and Mr. KTR Nambiar, Vice Presidents
(1998-2000).
Mr. K.P.
Desai, President, Mr. P J Dalal and Mr. C R Nambiar Vice Presidents (2000
- 2002).
Mr. C.R.
Nambiar, President, Mr. V C D'Souza and Capt. S P Rao, Vice Presidents
(2002 - 2004).
MANSA
Secretariat
Mr. S B Pathare, who devoted himself to the formation, and growth of the
organization, since its inception, requested Mr. Darab Dubhash of M/s D B
Cursetjee & Sons Pvt. Ltd. (DBC) for providing some space in the
office of M/s Oceanic Shipping Agency Pvt. Ltd., a group company of DBC
to house the Secretariat of the Association. Mr. Darab Dubhash, was kind
enough to accommodate BSAA and it’s Secretariat, and, the
Association started functioning from there.
Mr. B A
Nadkarni, an ex-official of the Bombay Port
was the first appointed Secretary of the Association, with tenure from
1979 to 1988. During his tenure, with the help of Mr. S B Pathare, MANSA
acquired its present premises at 3, Rex Chambers, W. H. Marg, Ballard
Estate, MUMBAI - 400 001. The Secretariat was shifted to this new office
in 1987.
In 1988,
Mr. K Kumar, Ex-Secretary of Western India Shippers Association (WISA),
took over from Mr. Nadkarni as the Secretary General. It was during Mr.
Kumar's tenure from May 1988 to September 1992 that the activities of
MANSA became more focussed and it was given recognition by the Port,
Government Bodies and the Trade. The Association was registered with the
Registrar of Societies and also with the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai in
the year 1989. Mr. Kumar left MANSA to join M/s Lloyd Triestino as its
General Manager and got elected to the Executive Committee of MANSA and
went on to became the President of the Association for the year
1993-1994.
With the
development of multi-modalism and the commissioning of the Jawaharlal Nehru
Port in 1989, the Executive
Committee felt that the name of the Association should be changed to
reflect it’s true activity areas, i.e. both, Mumbai Port
and the JNP. Hence, the name 'Bombay Steamer Agents Association' was changed
to 'Bombay
and Nhava-Sheva ShipAgents Association' (BANSA).
Mr.
Sharat Dighe, of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry, joined
MANSA as Secretary from 12th August 1992 and was designated as the
Secretary General from 1st January 1995 till his retirement in February
2003.
Col.
T.S. Tanwar (Retd.) joined MANSA as its Secretary General in July 2003.
Mrs.
Madhuri S Khavnekar had joined the Secretariat on 14th February 1983 and
was subsequently promoted as Secretary of the Association from 1st January
1995 till July 2003 when she left MANSA to pursue better prospects. Ms.
Sally Kuriakose the current Secretary succeeds her.
Consequent
upon the change of name of the city and port from 'Bombay' to
‘Mumbai’ the Association also in the AGM held on 12th July
1996, replaced ‘BOMBAY’ with ‘MUMBAI’ in
it’s name.
Further change in name was effected in the AGM held on 17th August 2001
to 'Mumbai and Nhava-Sheva Ship-Agents Association' (MANSA).
Formation of the Federal Body of
Ship-Agents
In the year 1988, MANSA members felt the need for a wider all-India body
to address the issues that are common in ports of the country. Thus MANSA
floated the idea of a Federation of Ship-Agents. The modalities of the
Federation were prepared; meetings with representatives of Associations
from all Major Ports were organized to constitute an ad hoc committee to
prepare Articles of Association and the Constitution. The meetings were
held in the year 1990 under the Chairmanship of Mr. R S Cooper, President
MANSA. Thus in 1990, the Federation of Ship-Agents Associations of India
(FEDSAI) was formed with Mr. R S Cooper as its first President. The
Presidency rotates every two years and the following gentlemen,
subsequent to Mr. R.S. Cooper have acted as Presidents of the Federation
till to date: Mr. H P Nopany, President of Association of Shipping
Interests in Calcutta (ASIC), Mr. K J Ramaswamy from Madras Steamer
Agents Association (MSAA), Mr. K J Jose from Cochin Steamer Agents
Association (CSAA) and Mr. S M Jalali, President, Mumbai And Nhava-Sheva
Ship-Agents Association (MANSA) have been Presidents in the past. Capt.
Suresh Amirapu of Chennai Steamer Agents Association is the current
President. The office of the Federation functions under the aegis of the
MANSA Secretariat.
MANSA
has a membership of about 100 companies. Over the years, MANSA has
developed into a serious trade body that champions the cause of
it’s members even at the national level. It interacts with
concerned Ministries, Govt. departments, Ports, Trade bodies such as
Chambers of Commerce, C&F Agents, Assoc, CSLA etc., and has its
rightful place in the country’s shipping industry.