Sunken SCI vessel spills containers

8220;The situation is constantly being monitored. The containers are not being allowed to drift away and are picked up by a standby barge and crane,8221; said a senior MBPT official.

Ten of Vishva Nandini8217;s containers carried a consignment of denim fabric which was scattered around the site of the sinking ship last week. The cloth was being shipped from Port Louis, Mauritius to Mumbai.

The ship was carrying a 9000-tonne cargo, including a consignment of scrap metal. Awash in its own engine oil, the ship8217;s blackened hull lies abandoned nearly a nautical mile off Gateway of India. Black patches of oil and floatsam surround the hulk even as a pile of containers lies scattered on the deck at the mercy of the tide. Some containers have been ripped open and the contents pilfered.

A chartered barge stands nearby, snagging up loose containers. 8220;We have recovered 14 containers so far,8221; a senior SCI official told Express Newsline, adding the remaining containers would be offloaded only as part of a comprehensive package to salvage the entire ship.

Merchant naval circles are mystified how the tightly sealed containers broke open. 8220;Why were the containers not offloaded for five days when the ship was barely afloat?8221; a merchant navy captain asked.

According to port trust officials, the SCI vessel dragged 1500 feet of anchor in a strong tide before drifting and hitting a sunken wreck in another anchorage, sinking partially on the channel bottom.

In what appear to be serious lapses, the ship8217;s engines were immobilised. Rules prohibit completely shutting down engines when the ship is in port, without having a mandatory tug standing by to assist the vessel in any emergency.

Water poured into the engine room at the rear of the ship through four gashes in the hull. While earlier, the ship had sunk only partially onto the shallow channel bottom, it sank completely in the harbour last Tuesday.Sources said the ship dragged anchor due to strong tides and repeatedly hit the wreck of the ONGC supply vessel Sindhu VII before rupturing its hull.Senior port trust officials told Express Newsline that the wrecks in the inner anchorage had been moved out of the shipping channel, and were not in an area which could damage other vessels.

The contracts for salvaging the Sindhu VII wreck, the barge Satyam and the Vishal wreck had been awarded, and the wrecks would be removed just after the monsoons.

Awarding the contracts for wreck removal was a time-consuming process taking up to a year, they added. The contract for salvaging the sunken SCI vessel has been awarded to Underwater Services Pvt Limited.