Facing the threat of a “drifting” oil tanker running aground off the Mumbai coast in the coming days, the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has deployed an Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) as a precautionary measure and asked various maritime agencies to activate their contingency plans to protect the coastline from any environmental hazard.
The “drifting” vessel, MT Pratibha Tapi, is one of the two oil tankers anchored off the Mumbai coast for the past two months.
Confirming the development, the DGS said in a statement here on Saturday evening that MT Pratibha Tapi was “dragging anchor at very slow rate”, while the second anchored vessel MT Pratibha Indrayani “is maintaining its position”. The DGS has, however, not specified the exact location of the two ships vis-a-vis the Mumbai coastline.
“Being aware of severity of monsoon in Indian waters, the Directorate has been closely monitoring the condition of these two ships in order to protect the interest of all concerned,” the DGS statement said.
According to the DGS, the two ships are having on board fuel oil of about 200 tonnes each, as reported by the owner.
The DGS’ anxiety should be seen in the light of an unpleasant experience it had in the form of a major oil spillage witnessed from a grounded merchant vessel MSC Chitra after its collision with another merchant vessel MV Khalijia-3, off the Mumbai coast nearly 3 years ago and another motor vessel MV Pavit running aground off the Juhu-Versova beach in north-west Mumbai, in August 2011.
As a contingency measure, the DGS has instructed the State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to deploy an ETV off the Mumbai coast, with adequate salvage equipments and expert manpower onboard to protect the coast line from any possible environmental hazard.
The two ships, as per the report of their owners, have been under “court arrest” in the Bombay High Court for the settlement of maritime claims.
Acting on the intelligence information about the drift of MT Pratibha Tapi, the DGS has requested various agencies like Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Maritime Board, Shipping Corporation of India and the State Government to activate their relevant contingency plans and prepare themselves, to tackle any possible mishap as per the prescribed protocol.