On Sunday morning, as the residents of a village in Gir-Somnath were out on the beach enjoying a lazy stroll, something unique in the sea caught their attention – a large blue object floating on the waves. The object, first spotted around 9am, also piqued the curiosity of fishermen working along the shoreline in Lati village of Sutrapada taluka. It was only around 12pm, when the object beached during high tide, that they realised what it was: A shipping container that had possibly fallen off a vessel on a trading route off India's western coast. Police were informed and soon a host of agencies, from the district administration to Intelligence Bureau (IB), Customs department and Indian Coast Guard (ICG), were alerted. The law enforcement had reasons to worry: In August 2022, approximately 363 kg of charas had floated to the coastline of Gir-Somnath, Porbandar and Junagadh districts after being dumped in the sea. Details found on the container on Sunday stated that it was en route from Hong Kong in China to Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). On inspecting the contents, it was found to contain a consignment of air pressure tanks. Authorities are now awaiting to hear from the shipping line or owners to claim the goods. “The container was first sighted around 9 am on July 13 when it was still out at sea. It slowly came closer to the shore and was beached during the high tide around 12 pm between Hirakot and Lati villages. The fishermen who spotted it immediately alerted us and we reached there along with Sutrapada police, the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Local Crime Branch (LCB),” said Police Inspector MG Patel of the Marine police station. The police also informed the ICG, Customs, and the IB, who reached the spot. This was because such floating materials reaching the shoreline are linked to coastal security. The teams of officials first had to check whether there was any hazardous or banned material in the shipping container. The Customs department officials in Gir-Somnath arrived at the spot around 2 pm and informed the Assistant Commissioner in Porbandar. The seal of the container was broken by Customs officials who found a consignment of air pressure tanks labelled 'Aquasky Plus' inside it. About 350 such pressurised tanks were estimated to be inside the Since most of the beach is not motorable, authorities took the help of villagers to cordon the area on Sunday night. “On Monday morning, the Customs department began transporting the goods to its office,” said PI Patel, adding that a station diary note had been made about the findings. The goods were transported on tractors. It is still not clear who the consignment belonged to or from which ship it had fallen off. An official of the Customs department, on condition of anonymity, said, “We have detained the consignment found in the container. We will wait for the shipping line or the owners to contact us and claim the goods. We will complete the formalities and release the goods to them as no hazardous or contraband substance was found in it.” The container, meanwhile, is still lying on the beach with authorities thinking of ways to shift it elsewhere.
