Oil spills in the Arabian Sea, off the Mumbai coast, seem to have become an annual affair. MV Rak, the Panama-flagged cargo ship that sank off Mumbai on Thursday, started leaking oil late on Saturday night.
Last August, the collision of merchant ships MSC Chitra and MV Khalija at the mouth of Mumbai harbour had led to a major oil spill. “Since last night, oil has been leaking from the sunken vessel at a rate of 1.5 to 2 tonnes an hour. The oil has spread about seven nautical miles around the vessel,” a defence press release said.
Coast guard ship Samudra Prahari has started an oil containment operation, named Paryavaran Suraksha — 2/2011, by using oil dispersant to neutralise the spill.
“More than 700kg of oil spill dispersant was sprayed over seven nautical miles from where the ship sank and the spill was noticed,” a coast guard officer said.
But alarm bells have started ringing, with environmentalists advising people to stay off fish for a while and authorities telling fishermen not to venture near the spillage area. “The oil does not get dissolved in seawater; rather it forms a thick layer over it,”
Rituraj Joshi of Nisarg Trust said. “This affects marine biology and disrupts the marine food chain. Big fishes eat small ones coated with oil and fishermen catch big fishes for the market. So, there is a chance of our bodies being contaminated.”
The oil layer cuts off the oxygen supply in water resulting in the death of marine animals, he said. “The oil will not reach beaches immediately… it depends on the wind speed and tide. The authorities should do everything possible to stop the oil from reaching the beaches.”
Though fishermen’s unions said the current spill would not affect fishes, the authorities have directed them not to venture near the oil spill area. “Fishing will start only on August 15. People need not worry,” Damodar Tandel of the Maharashtra Machchimar Kruti Samiti said. But it is a known fact that there’s an abundant supply of fish in markets, which means fishing happens, albeit unofficially.
The police, however, asked people on Sunday to avoid beaches, especially Juhu. “I appeal to people not to go to beaches or enter the sea to avoid getting affected by the oil spill,” Arup Patnaik, Mumbai police commissioner, said.
The state pollution control board has been asked to collect and check samples of the spill.
When it sank on Thursday, MV Rak had 60,000 metric tonnes of coal in its hold and 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel. It was on its way to Dahej port in Gujarat from Indonesia.
The coast guard and the navy rescued its 30-member crew following a distress call from the vessel. Several state agencies along with maritime traffic management agencies are working on a contingency plan to contain the spill.
