Union Shipping, Ports and Waterways Ministry has proposed that ports may consider requests regarding reduction, waiver or remission of charges, including change of vessel charge, and also rolled out a standard operating procedure (SoP) for them to deal with issues arising from the West Asia crisis. As part of the SoP that followed extensive consultations with all stakeholders on Friday, each port will appoint a nodal officer at the level of head of department or deputy head of department, who will be the single point of contact for addressing the issues coming up for consideration at ports. The nodal officer will be responsible for taking up the matter with the competent authority and ensure that the action is taken within 24-72 hours. Also, as per the SoP, port chairpersons should have periodical meetings with stakeholders such as shipping lines, exporters, terminal operators, customs, among others to closely monitor the situation and ascertain and address legitimate concerns. The