Chennai oil spill over 40 tonne, but no claims so far

It has been more than fortnight since the oil spill off the Chennai port, but there hasn’t been a single claim for damages so far, barring a couple of enquiries.

A senior official from the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) privy to the investigations said, “It has been a few days since a claims desk was set up at Chennai by the insurance company to receive claim applications, but it has still not received any claim application. There have been two enquiries — from the Tamil Nadu government agencies who worked to clean up the coast.”

Meanwhile, the compensation amount for the oil spill incident off Mumbai that had happened in 2010 is still awaited, with the matter being sub-judice.

In the Mumbai incident, wherein Chitra and Khalijia III had collided, resulting in 879 tonne of oil getting spilt and 31 containers floating in the sea. Compensation was claimed then by the fishing community and the state government.

“There wasn’t a claims desk then, the claims too started coming in late and were not in a proper format. Later, due to a dispute between the insurance agency and the government over the compensation amount, claims were litigated and now a verdict is awaited,” the official said.

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) had estimated that the overall damage and cost of the 879 tonne of oil spilt at Rs 514 crore. While only Rs 3 crore was claimed by the state government towards cost involved in clean-up operations, navigation channel for Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port remained shut for several days.

In Chennai, a structural assessment has made of both the vessels — BW Maple and Dawn Kanchipuram. “BW Maple is currently at Kamarajar Port port outer anchorage. She has been permitted to sail to the next discharge port, thereafter which she will be dry docked for repairs,” said a spokesperson from BW Maritime, the owner of BW Maple.

DGS official told DNA Money, “Although experts have certified it fit for sailing, we are yet to allow it to leave the port area due to the on-going investigation into the mishap. There’s only a dent on the bow of BW Maple. For the other ship, Dawn Kanchipuram, it is up to the owners to decide if they would repair and re-sail the tanker or sell it.”

The Indian-flagged Dawn Kanchipuram was built in 1996 and the current ship management firm is the fourth owner of the vessel. With the vessel having sailed for 21 years, there are still some years left. The average life of a ship is around 30 years. It largely depends on the degree of damage caused; if repair is financially viable it will be back into service or else it may be sold to another shipping agency or to a ship breaking yard.

In fact, none of the either shipowners has moved an application to the authorities to sail their ships to their next destination or for repairs.

A final quantity of the engine oil spilt collision is yet to be ascertained and the vessel that was carrying 32,813 tonne of petroleum, oil and lubricant cargo has been discharged at the port.