Oil spill concern as ships collide off Mumbai harbour
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Two Panamanian cargo ships, MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia-111, collided on August 7, 2010, off the Mumbai coast causing an oil spill that could pose a huge environmental threat
The oil spill off Mumbai has worsened as a foreign cargo ship that collided with another vessel, about 10 km off Mumbai harbour, tilted spilling oil for the third consecutive day on August 9, 2010, even as the navy and coast guard made every effort to contain the leak.
MSC Chitra is said to have been carrying about 1,200 containers with over 266 tonnes of fuel when it collided with another Panamanian cargo ship, MV Khalijia-111, on August 7, 2010. Thirty-three crew members were rescued following the incident. Officials are yet to locate the leak. A thick oil slick has been sighted 2-3 km around the vessel Chitra.
Meanwhile, the Union government said legal action had been initiated against the owners of the two cargo ships, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a report from the shipping ministry on the incident. “The Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board has already initiated legal action against the owners of the ships,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha while responding to members’ concerns over the issue. He said the government would make a detailed statement on the issue in Parliament on Tuesday.
“MSC Chitra has tilted 80 degrees and the total oil spill is nearly 50 tonnes,” Arun Singh, Commandant (Operations), Coast Guard, said, adding that 300 containers carrying oil had fallen into the water so far. Some containers are floating in the choppy Arabian Sea in the busy navigation channels giving entry and exit into one of the oldest and largest ports in the country -- Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, respectively.
“Traffic has been suspended as the containers are still sighted floating in the channel thus making navigation hazardous,” a coast guard official said. In the biggest such operation mounted so far in Indian waters, the authorities have deployed five Indian coast guard ships, one helicopter and one small aircraft to control the spill.
A worried Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said: “This is a serious issue. We have already filed cases against the captains of the two ships which are from abroad.” Taking a grim view of the situation arising out of the oil spill off Mumbai, Maharashtra Environment Minister Suresh Shetty said the oil slick seemed to be spreading and could threaten the Konkan coastline comprising Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.
A high-level meeting, to be attended by officials of the Maharashtra government environment department, National Disaster Response Force, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, shipping department, Mumbai Port Trust and other concerned agencies has been convened to assess the situation and steps to be taken to bring it under control, government sources said.
Meanwhile, the state government and maritime authorities have banned all fishing activity in and around the Mumbai coast until the oil slick is brought under control.
This is a blow to the fishing community, especially small and marginal fishermen who conduct trade on a daily basis, the Maharashtra Fishermen’s Association (MFA) said in Mumbai on Monday. The 800,000-strong fishing community in coastal Maharashtra has demanded compensation for what they claim are “huge losses to their trade following the oil spill outside Mumbai”.
Source: The Hindustan Times, August 9, 2010
The Indian Express, August 9, 2010
Press Trust of India, August 9, 2010