Goa liberates coastline from monster ship

The task of salvaging the River Princess began today. Earlier, Saldanha had promised that the ship would go by January, or he would quit office.About a year back, The Indian Express had reported how the River Princess had deformed the coastline, and was an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Besides, the oil leak had ruined the beach for an entire season.

The government contract stipulates that Crosschem salvages the ship without breaking in Goa. The highly polluting waste material will not be dumped in Goan waters.

The tourism minister emphasised that no money would be paid to Crosschem if the work was not carried out according to these conditions.

According to officials, the workers will first have to patch up the holes on the ship and refloat it to places like Gujarat which allow shipwrecks to be dismantled.

While Parrikar maintained that the ship’s ownership had not been established, the state government passed a special legislation in the Assembly for protection of tourist spots.

This gives the government the right to take over anything which has proved to be a nuisance to a place of tourist importance.

Over the years, scientists from prestigious institutions like the National Institute of Oceanology (NIO) have often sounded the alarm bell over River Princess.

Dr Baban Ingole, senior scientist at NIO, pointed out that even after four years since the ship was run aground, there is a sediment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) — from which petroleum products are refined — near it.

Scientists have also warned about the danger posed to underwater fauna off the Goan coast.