The large drums found floating off the Maharashtra coast last week were found to contain highly-flammable liquid hydracaron naptha, the Indian Coast Guard said on Monday.
Each of the drums was old and corroded and contained around 200 litres of the dangerous liquid naptha, a gasoline look-alike made from distilling petroleum and used mainly to dilute heavy oil to help it move through pipelines, make high-octane gas and for cleaning metals. Investigations are underway to determine their origins and ownerhip.
The drums caused a major security scare on Saturday after they were found bobbing along the picturesque shoreline of Barshivi, Kurali, Revadanda and Shrivardhan in Raigad district, around 50 kms south of Mumbai.
The Coast Guard, Maharashtra Police and other agencies recovered 12 drums then. On late Sunday, another aerial survey revealed seven more drums floating around Shrivardhan and recovered them.
The Coast Guard subsequently issued a warning to all mariners and vessels for safe navigation in the affected areas to ward off any untoward incident.
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