The metal containers could come in the way of vessels entering or leaving the harbour, possibly leading to another tragedy that would spell heavy trade losses.
Over a hundred containers that had fallen off merchant vessel MSC Chitra, following its collision with MV Khalijia over a week ago, are yet to be recovered. The metal containers could come in the way of vessels entering or leaving the harbour, possibly leading to another tragedy that would spell heavy trade losses.
“Several containers were spotted and collected form various locations in and around the harbour,” said Rahul Asthana, chairman of the Mumbai Port Trust. “However, about 100 are still missing. They might have sunk or floated to some other place. Two missing containers are believed to contain hazardous pesticides.”
Apart from three specialised survey boats equipped with sonar scanners, a minesweeper has been employed to spot the containers which are suspected to have submerged in and around the harbour’s navigational channel. The navy has also deployed naval helicopters to conduct aerial surveys of the channel and nearby areas.
Captain Manohar Nambiar, chief public relations officer for Defence, said, “One concern is that the containers may have sunk to a place where there is thick soil and the signals coming to the sonar scanners may be weak. However, the metal can be detected. The only problem is that it would take some time to detect all of them. Meanwhile, regular surveys will be carried out.”
Navigational operations in and out of the harbour were stopped for five days following the collision. They were resumed on Thursday, though with the help of the navy’s escort vessels. It used specialised survey boats to check if there were any floating containers that would cause damage to vessels going in or out of the harbour.
Authorities like the navy and the coast guard would have to continue escorting vessels to avoid another tragedy. This has slowed down operations at the harbour. The number of containers allowed in and out of the harbour is less than average. It would be long before all the containers are detected and removed.
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