April deadline set to scrap MSC Chitra

The company has also informed the Directorate-General of Shipping on the progress.

“May is considered the beginning of foul weather when the sea gets rough. Every year,around that time,we start sending formal declarations. The company has informed us the shipwreck will be cleared before that. They have formally informed us the ship will be lifted and towed from near the Mumbai Harbour. April is what we have been informed too,” confirmed S B Agnihotri,Director-General,Shipping.

The Directorate,Agnihotri adds,is waiting for a reply on the probe report on the collision from the Shipping Ministry for “further course of action”. “We will go for a longer probe if they ask us to continue or will start taking action on points we have already listed,” said Agnihotri.

Meanwhile,of the 1,219 containers on the ship,many are still “pending to be cleared”.

While the priority task was to clear the 30-odd containers with hazardous cargo and some others that had blocked the harbour,the salvage operations still continue.

The owners had employed Singapore-based GM Salvage Asia Smit for salvaging the wreckage. “We are getting piecemeal permission from Customs on the rest of the containers. We cannot show total loss for the containers sunk or still on the ship. The procedure for the containers have to be followed where the value of the containers has to be declared. The Customs will then,under procedures,give clearance to release the same. That process is in progress,” explained Tewari.

The two vessels had collided on August 7 around Mumbai Harbour leading to a major oil spill. So far,the owners of MSC Chitra have been asked to pay Rs 3 crore for the entire clean-up operations. Elephanta shores was among the worst affected.