Vessel collision off Mumbai coast: 100 containers missing

Nearly 100 containers that fell into the waters following the collision between two merchant vessels off the Mumbai coast are still missing and two of them are carrying hazardous chemicals, a senior Mumbai Port Trust official said today.

"The salvage operation is underway. About 100 out of the total 250 containers are yet to be traced from the waters," Rahul Asthana, chairman of the Mumbai Port Trust said.

Two of the missing containers carry hazardous chemicals and efforts are on to locate and retrieve them, he said.

Two merchant vessels - MSC Chitra and Khalijia-III collided off the Mumbai coast on August 7 causing an oil spill and several containers from one of the vessels fell into the sea.