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| Post-oil spill, Mumbai ports to reopen by weekend |
| BS Reporters / Mumbai/ New Delhi Aug 11, 2010, 01:10 IST |
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Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Mumbai Port Trust – two of India’s major ports accounting for about 40 per cent of exports – are expected to resume operations by Sunday.
Traffic at the two ports was stalled due to an oil spill off the Mumbai coast on
August 7 following a collision of two ships. The Coast Guard and other government agencies were working on limiting the damage caused by the spill in Arabian Sea.
In a meeting convened by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, port officials assured that the navigation channel would be cleared for traffic by this weekend.
The government will also carry out an environment impact assessment through National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography.
The MSC Chitra, a container ship operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co, shed about 325 containers in the sea after colliding with another vessel, the M V Khalijia.
While the M V Khalijia has been berthed, the MSC Chitra is now listing after being deliberately beached. The ship had 1,219 containers on board, of which 31 held hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
After the collision, about 200 litres of hydraulic oil leaked out from the MSC Chitra. The 24 crew members were evacuated, using tugs. Salvagers from Smit Internationale NV are working to stabilise the ship and working on clearing the navigation channel. The vessel, built in 1980, has a capacity to carry 2,314 containers.
“The salvager is trying to stabilise the ship and pump out the remaining oil estimated to be about 2,000 tons,” said the director general of shipping in a statement issued late this evening. “This operation would take five to six days, given the need to keep the ship stable and provide it with Ballast water in an effort to slowly correct her listing, which is currently stable at 75 degrees.”
“The fuel leak from the MSC Chitra has now stopped,” said a Coast Guard official. The agency used chemicals to disperse oil spilled from the ship.
The closure of the two ports has disrupted oil delivery to a local refinery and delayed shipments of grain and other exports. According to the government, 32 ships have been stranded in the ports or were awaiting docking.
Bharat Petroleum Corp, a state-run refiner, said three ships carrying 1.5 million barrels of crude supplies for its 138,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Mumbai haven’t been able to unload due to closure of the port. The refinery will instead use crude from a pipeline and from inventories.
Salavaging ship to take 45 days: Jairam
Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh today said the ministry has drawn up a plan to clear the channel that leads to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
He said the floating containers that had fallen from the MSC Chitra will be retrieved and transported to the JNPT before the ship is salvaged. This would be done by anchoring a barge at a suitable anchorage with floating cranes. Then tugs will tow the floating containers to the crane for placing them on the barge. Salvaging the ship will take about 45 days, Ramesh told the Lok Sabha.
“Once the list of the vessel stabilises and is safe to board, the salvagers would board the vessel and remove the fuel from the various tanks into barges to eliminate the threat of pollution,” said Ramesh.
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