Report No. 21
2. Need for legislation.-
That there is need for this legislation was recognised, as already stated,1 in the statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the Bill for amendment of the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act. That statement was made in 1944, and since then the need for such a legislation has become greater. There has been, in recent years, a marked increase in the mercantile marine owned by this country. We have moreover entered on an era of industrial expansion, and to carry on our export and import trade effectively, it is necessary that we should own our own vessels.
There is even now an appreciable volume of business in the taking up of marine insurance policy on ships, cargo and freight, and that is bound to increase in the not distant future. Under the circumstances, a law on marine insurance would facilitate the expansion of business in exports and imports, and in the settlement of disputes arising in the course thereof. Such a legislation would also be in furtherance of the policy underlying the enactment of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. We are therefore of opinion that there is ample needed for enactment of a statute on marine insurance.
1. Para. 1, supra.
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