Oil tanker to stay berthed at Juhu-Versova beach

The merchant tanker, MT Pavit, will be berthed off the Juhu-Versova beach for a few more days as the owner of the ship and the insurer are yet to submit their salvage operation plan to the shipping authorities.

An official of the directorate-general of shipping confirmed that they had not yet received any salvage plan. But, he added that, the directorate had granted the company as much time as possible as they did not want an oil spill that might cause environmental damage and even affect the skeleton of the vessel. “We want the ship to be removed from the beach without the environment being harmed. No oil must spill during the salvage operation,” said director general of shipping Satish Agnihotri. The ship is carrying 30 tonnes of fuel.

A source said even salvage operators of emergency towing vessel SMIT Lumba had warned the shipping authorities that the vessel should not be taken away in a hurry as it might cause environmental damage. Moreover, the ship’s owner is yet to hire a salvage company and finalize the cost of the operation. “The salvage operation cost will be completely borne by the owner and the insurers,” added Agnihotri.

A shipping official added that once the Wreck Removal Convention Bill, which was recently cleared by the cabinet, was passed in the parliament, the company owning an abandoned vessel and the insurers would have to clear the ship from a beach themselves.

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Posted by on August 5, 2011. Filed under All news, Business, Company News, Latest news, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.