About eight months after she was involved in a collision with another vessel, the bulker Khalija 3 off the port of Mumbai, Indian authorities have abandoned any salvage ideas for the grounded container ship MSC Chitra and have decided they want the ship taken to deep water and sunk.
About eight months after she was involved in a collision with another vessel, the bulker Khalija 3 off the port of Mumbai, Indian authorities have abandoned any salvage ideas for the grounded container ship MSC Chitra and have decided they want the ship taken to deep water and sunk.
The collision left the MSC container ship severely damaged and which developed a list and went aground, with over a hundred containers falling overboard in the process. Some of these sank and have not been recovered while others floated in the sea, creating a maritime hazard to other shipping and lengthy delays at Mumbai’s two ports.
The accident also left an oil spill for authorities to contend with in addition to approximately 300 containers which fell off the MSC ship and have dispersed across the port approaches, effectively closing the port.
MSC Chitra is deployed on MSC’s East Africa – India service. After the collision the container ship took- on an 70-80° list during which the approximately 300 containers fell off.
In a statement that was issued shortly after the collision, MSC said their ship had suffered extensive damage and was grounded close to where the collision took place. Salvors had been immediately appointed to stabilise the vessel and cargo and deal with the consequences and efforts were underway to recover the containers lost overboard.
There were no injuries to crew or salvors on board either of the two vessels.
MSC added that it was a priority to prevent further pollution – MSC Chitra’s fuel tanks have been ruptured and fuel was spilling into the water, although the amount was reducing and may now have stopped. The vessel is reported to be stable although there are spring tides at Mumbai and this situation may change.
The statement said that it was MSC’s understanding that KHALIJIA 3 had recently been salvaged from a three-week grounding.
“We have performed a preliminary review of the vessel’s black box recorder. From the recording it is clear that the MSC CHITRA was properly proceeding outbound within the main navigation channel when the KHALIJIA 3, with salvors’ escort tugs in attendance, left what we believe was the KHALIJIA 3’s anchorage position, and crossed the fairway ahead of the MSC CHITRA heading generally southbound and turning to port.
“For reasons not known to us the KHALIJIA 3 unexpectedly continued turning to port, and came back to cross the fairway again, now heading in a generally northbound direction, and struck the MSC CHITRA on the port side while the MSC CHITRA was still properly navigating in the main channel. Therefore, it would appear that under the rules of navigation the KHALIJIA 3 was significantly in error. We of course await the results of the full inquiry in due course” , the statement had said.
Pirates free Thai ship for $4.7 million
SOMALI pirates confirmed last week that they have received a ransom of $4.77 million to release the MV Thor Nexus, a Thai cargo vessel hijacked on December 25 last year.
"The ship was freed yesterday afternoon. The pirates had received five million from the owners the previous day," Abdi Yare, a pirate commander in the central Somali coastal town of Hobyo, told AFP.
"Our colleagues in Puntland had taken this ship a few months ago… It was released from Eel Dhanaane and it is now sailing free," Yare said.
Eel Dhanaane is a small village which lies between the pirate lairs of Hobyo and Garaad, further north.
The 20,377-tonne MV Thor Nexus was on its way from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates with a crew of 27 from Thailand and a cargo of fertiliser when it was captured.
According to Ecoterra International, an NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region, Somali pirates still hold more than 40 vessels which have been confirmed hijacked and around 700 seafarers.
*AFP
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