Harbour partially reopened after collision

Five days after two merchant navy vessels — MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia III — collided in the sea and spilled 800 tonnes of oil, the Mumbai harbour was partially reopened for traffic on Thursday. Four hundred containers onboard the MSC Chitra fell into the sea as the vessel tilted 75 degrees following the collision.

“The channel has been partially opened after a thorough review of the situation. A few ships were escorted by naval vessels. Around 25 containers have been fished out of the channel and it will be thrown completely open within two days,” minister of shipping GK Vasan said. “There is no shortage in the supply of petroleum products and there won’t be a shortage in the future either since the channel has been opened now,” Murli Deora, Union minister for petroleum, said.

A coast guard official said, “Navigation had to be stopped as the containers could have hit any vessel and resulted in another tragedy. Side-scan sonars installed on naval vessels were used to spot the submerged containers. They were pulled out using airbags and tugged to a safer location.”

The director-general (DG) of shipping has been appointed as the nodal agency to look into the losses suffered by fishermen and the government. Officials from the DG of shipping said the collision happened due to a navigational and communication error.     

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. “Log entries and data records of both the ships will be checked,” the shipping minister said.

An expert team from SMIT Singapore and The Netherlands assisted the coast guard in the oil spill combat operations. The navy deployed its specialised minesweeper vessel, high speed boats and three specialised survey boats with side-scan sonars on Thursday to find the submerged containers. Coast guard officials said MSC Chitra is now tilted at 65 degrees and that one more container fell from the vessel on Thursday.