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.