Not long before we get stuck with another ship

According to maritime experts,the Nairobi convention,which has some of the most developed maritime nations as signatories,gives the government authority to declare any object,ship lost at sea,or stranded or sunk following a maritime casualty a wreck. Once a ship changes a description to wreck,then the laws automatically make the registered owners or insurers liable and let the government choose to identify the navigational or other hazards the ship’s registered owners are liable for.

“India has still not signed and ratified the Wreckage Removal Convention because of which such a situation arises,” said Satish Agnihotri,Director-General of Shipping. According to Agnihotri,the control,liability and deadlines could have been better handled if the Wreckage Removal Convention had been signed. The convention would have made the wreck removal mandatory within a stipulated period in a prescribed protocol.

MVWisdom,registered with the Singaporean Ship registry and owned by K J Shipping Pte Limited,was on its way to a scrap yard in Alang when the rope from the tug which held the vessel broke. Besides drawing hordes of curious onlookers — three of whom tried to swim towards it and drowned — it has also concerned environmentalists who were worried that the sea bed could be eroded by the merchant vessel parked on the coastline. The ship,with a dead weight of 12,724 tonnage and a draught of 8.275 metres lost one good opportunity to be towed away on June 15,the day of the full lunar eclipse.

In another instance early this month,the Turkish owners of the vessel MV Mirach replied to the Nagercoil District Magistrate’s Office that Indian Maritime Law does not fix the responsibility of clearing a ship wreckage on the owners of the vessel. They were replying to an inquiry under Section 133 under the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973,on why they are not liable to clear the wreck. The 25,842-tonne vessel with a shipment of iron ore was on its way from Visakhapatnam to Karachi when it hit Crocodile Rock off Nagercoil on March 29.

According to sources,the company replied that there are around 2,000 cases of wrecks where vessels have been abandoned across the Indian Coast. “If the law requires us to clear the wreck we will do that. But,in this instance,there is no Indian Maritime Law that requires us to clear the wreck.”

“In this case,it’s a peculiar situation as the vessel is not sunk in port limits. In the case of MSC Chitra,the wreck was inside the port limits because of which it had to be cleared by the owners under the Indian Port Act,” said Agnihotri.

“Since the wreck is on the navigational route of smaller vessels and is causing unlawful obstruction or nuisance the district court can impose responsibilities. Though,it is for the district court to give the final decision as a penal code has been applied.”