The job of wreckage removal of the sunken Mongolian ship MV Black Rose near the Paradip Port waters has gone long delayed by now.
The district administration of Jagatsinghpur is trying to pass the buck and wants the work, which involves a big budget, to be done by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT). The Union Ministry of Shipping has not given a green to the PPT signal about launching a salvage operation, given the huge expenses.
Meanwhile, State Excise Minister and local MlA Damodar Rout has sought a CBI probe into the permission granted to the ship to anchor in the port without valid documents and carrying illegal cargo.
The vessel, overloaded with iron ore, sank near the port anchorage area on September 9, 2009. It additionally carried about 900 MT of fuel oil on board and had a 26-member crew. Although the PPT marine department and pilot boats had rescued the crew members, the Ukrainian chief engineer if the vessel was found dead and his body was recovered four days after the tragedy.
An investigation found that the ship’s documents were forged. Because of the fake insurance and other documents, the ship’s owners and operators based in Singapore went underground and could not be contacted by the PPT. The 26 rescued crew members went back to their native countries of Bangladesh and Ukraine after a gap of about a month. However, a few days later, the first sign of an environmental threat posed by the sunken ship came to the fore.
The fuel oil in the ship’s tanks leaked into seawater and caused pollution and death of aquatic animals in the sea. This prompted the PPT to call a global tender for removal of the oil from the ship’s fuel tanks. An American firm got the tender and removed the oil.
By that time, environmentalist Sankhanada Behera had written several letters for a CBI inquiry into the incident. He had blamed the authorities for allowing the entry of the 30-year-old vessel with invalid papers. But at that time, Minister Rout was mum.
In 2010, one Ranjit Mohanty of Cuttack filed a PIl at the Odisha High Court praying for removal of the ship from the sea, citing various problems. The court ordered the Jagatsinghpur district administration for removal of the ship and to carry out an investigation into the whole episode.
The State Government also ordered a Crime Branch inquiry, and Crime Branch DSP Santosh Kumar Pattanaik was appointed as the chief investigating officer. He also visited Singapore for investigation about the ship’s owner and operator but returned empty-handed informing the media that he could not trace out both.
The agent of the ship was Seatrans Shipping Company, the owner of which was NN Mukherjee of Kolkata, who happened to be a former Traffic Manager of the Kolkata Port Trust as was later revealed. But a final report was not submitted by the Crime Branch, and the Jagatsinghpur administration also did not take any interest to remove the ship.
When the CBI is investigating the chit fund scam, Minister Rout, ostensibly to grab eyeball, has demanded a CBI probe at a time when neither the State Government nor any other authority has shown any interest to carry out the much-needed ship salvage drive.
On other hand, the district administration has recently prayed the High Court that the PPT be asked to undertake removal of the wreckage, making it clear that the State Government has no concern for the environment threat by the ship even as over five years have passed by. It is merely trying to wash its hand off the affair and allow the ship lie there.
Meanwhile, scrap mafia also have cut and stolen some portions of the body of the ship which were visible above the water during last year. Now, all eyes are on a final verdict of the High Court.