The country’s two major ports — Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) — are likely to resume normal operations from Monday, a little over a fortnight since the collision between container vessel MSC Chitra and cargo ship Khailijia 3, off the Mumbai coast. The waters will be safe and clear for the vessels to enter without an escort.
While the channels have been cleared, there is no trace of around 293 containers that fell off MSC Chitra. Officials admitted that the containers would have floated towards south Maharashtra and have been declared ‘as good as lost’ by the shipping ministry. The collision affected 75 square kms of sea area, out of which 70 square kms are under MPT area and the remaining under JNPT. The shipping ministry, which was monitoring the clean-up operation, had even roped in the service of chief hydrographer vice-admiral B A Rao for technical advice to the Directorate General of Shipping.
Mediterranean Shipping Company, the owners of MSC Chitra, had employed four boats to scan the water. In the last few days, it got seven additional boats and five diving teams to accelerate the salvage operations. To prevent further revenue loss to the two ports and normalise operations, the government and the MSC Ship Management speeded up the salvage work and deployed more resources. The salvage teams scanned 20 square kms of area every day. “There is no congestion at the ports now. Around 93 vessels have left MPT and JNPT and 80 others have entered the ports to discharge or upload the cargo,” said Joint Shipping Secretary Rakesh Srivastava.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations has estimated that the accident would impact about $4 billion trade cargo. The trade incurred a $20-million loss in the first week of collision. The Directorate General of Shipping, which acts as a regulator for the industry, is likely to come out with an inquiry report on August 31 though a MSC statement blamed the other vessel Khailijia for significant error under the rules of navigation.
| SPILL BILL |
| COLLISION'S TOLL # MPT and JNPT shut for 5 days # 70 kms of mangrove struck # Over 6,000 fishermen affected # 98 containers retrieved ; 293 containers drifted # Over 800 tonne oil spilled |
| LOSS IN BUSINESS # JNPT lost '3 crore revenue per day; 2 lakh tonnes traffic lost per day # MPT lost 1.5 lakh tonnes traffic lost per day # Around $4 billion trade cargo impacted # Indian exporters and importers lose $20 million Aug 7: MSC Chitra and Khailijia3 collide Aug 23: Government hopes to clear the channel and make the sea navigable. Aug 31: Directorate General Shipping to give its inquiry report. |
MPT is assessing the losses which have been incurred as a result of the collision and it will file the claim with MSC. “Following the principle of strict liability, MSC will have to bear the cost of operations and the loss of business. This would also include the cost of cleaning up the environment once we have quantified it,” said MPT Chairman Rahul Asthana. The going has not been good for MSC Ship Management company. Even while it is busy doing the clean-up act in Mumbai, the US Department of Justice on August 11 slapped a fine of $10.5 million on the shipping company for “pollution due to discharge of over 40 tonnes of sludge and oil contaminated waste”.
Back home in India, if charges levied against MSC Chitra by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board are proved, the penalty would only be '5 lakh plus three months’ imprisonment. This is when the collision of the two vessels off the coast of Mumbai had led to spilling of over 800 tonnes of oil into sea. “MSC Chitra and Khailijia 3 would attract action according to the provisions of the Environment Protection Act of 1986 under which the penalty would be a maximum '5 lakh,” said a Maharashtra Pollution Control Board official who did not wish to be quoted.
(With input from Sanjay Jog in Mumbai)
