The job of stevedoring service providers primarily involves the supply of equipment and labor, direction for the handling of cargo and loading and unloading of vessels in the port. However, a historical difference exists between the job of 'stevedoring' and 'loading' as the operations of moving goods from ship's side until they are safely stored within the vessel is called stevedoring, while loading involves movements of good from berth to ship's side.
Stevedores handle only dry cargo of bulk, break bulk and containerized type.
Mechanized cargo handling facilities are applied for handling of dry bulk cargo thereby reducing the responsibility of stevedores, break bulk and containerized cargo requires stevedoring. Indian stevedoring industry shows a highly fragmented picture where the private sector dominates the industry. However, in some ports like Mundra, Pipavav and others, port authority itself does the stevedoring job. Though several stevedores are active all over the country, some leading players share major chunk of the industry at different geographical regions. The industry is presently suffering from various issues relating to labor.