PPT chief's statement draws flak

The recent statement of K Raghuramaiah, chairman of Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) in which he stated that the PPT authorities are not responsible for retrieving oil from the sunken vessel has drawn flak from the marine experts.

Taking a dig at Raguramaiah's statement, Pravat Mohanty, former chairman of Goa and Mangalore port trusts said, “The statement of PPT chairman is not at all correct. It is unfortunate to pass the buck to the owner and management company of the sunken vessel and ignore the port's responsibility to retrieve oil from the vessel and its wreck.”

In a recent interaction with the media persons, Raghuramaiah had said that the responsibility of retrieving oil from the sunken vessel is that of the vessel owner and its management company and so PPT has initiated legal action against them.

Mohanty pointed out that since Black Rose sunk within four to five nautical miles of the Paradeep port, so it is the responsibility of the port to remove the wreck or retrieve oil from sunken vessel as per Indian Major Ports Act, 1963 if the vessel owner did not respond.

The ports are governed by three acts like Major Ports Act of 1963, Custom Act, 1962 and Indian Ports Act, 1908 and matters relating to ship come under Indian Ports Act 1908, he added.

Mohanty opined that instead of evading responsibility, the Directorate General of Shipping, Mercantile Marine Department and the PPT authorities should have been more pro-active in handling the situation.

He also said that criminal action should be taken against the vessel owner and its management company for submission of forged papers.

It may be noted that Pravat Nanda, secretary, PPT has lodged an FIR against the vessel owner, its management company, the shipping agent as well as the charter company at the Marine police station, Paradeep.