Top Officer Told To Monitor Liberian Shipwreck Every 2 Hours: Minister

The Directorate General of Shipping has been directed to monitor the situation arising out of the capsizing and sinking of a Liberian cargo ship off the Kerala coast, at every two hours, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Monday.

Speaking with reporters after attending the 36th Foundation Day celebrations event here, Mr Sonowal, who is the Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said all steps have been taken, particularly to protect coastal life.

A Liberian-flagged cargo container ship, which was sailing between the ports of Vizhinjam and Kochi, capsized and sank in the sea off the coast of Kerala on Sunday, leading to a significant oil spill. However, all crew members were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard and a Navy ship.

According to PTI, the ship had a total of 643 containers on board, of which 73 were empty and 13 were carrying hazardous and dangerous goods, including calcium carbide -- a chemical that reacts violently with water to release highly flammable acetylene gas.

"In this regard, we have already directed our DG shipping to monitor it (the situation) every two hours. They are sitting with the concerned agencies, particularly the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and all others like Kerala Government, State and National Disaster Management Authority. They are all working together," Mr Sonowal said.

All steps have been taken, particularly to protect the coastal life and environment, the minister said, adding "these are the two important areas which are being taken care of." Authorities on Monday stated that containers from the Liberian cargo ship have started washing ashore, prompting the authorities to urge the public to stay away from them.

They said that some containers have been found along the coasts of southern Kollam and coastal Alappuzha districts.

In the wake of the sinking of the ship, a high-level meeting was convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to assess the situation.

An advisory has been issued urging coastal residents and fishermen to remain vigilant. The cargo ship capsized and sank early on Sunday, leading to a significant oil spill.

The leak has sparked a statewide alert, as fuel is drifting at a speed of around three kilometres per hour and could soon impact the ecologically sensitive Kerala coastline.

According to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the sunken vessel had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks.

Some containers were carrying dangerous substances such as calcium carbide, a chemical that reacts with seawater to release highly flammable acetylene gas, officials said.

Meanwhile, a senior DGS official expressed hope that the deployment of the two specialised capital vessels for oil spill response would be able to contain the oil spill.

"Three specific aspects have been addressed with regard to the incident. One is the containers that have reached, they have to be sequestered and they have to be addressed accordingly, also to ensure that there is no environmental damage done both to the coastline and to the coastal flows where these containers are," said the official.

He said that in a capsized vessel, they are going to put a bunker as well, which needs to be extracted, and then salvage needs to be done.

"The weather, unfortunately, is not favourable and we have to work against these constraints," he said.

"We are doing coordinated, three-hourly planning. The Coast Guard has restricted the entire seafaring vessel,s and that was the first priority. Thereafter, they have deployed vessels especially for the oil spill response. They had two aerial vessels and basically now we have two specialized capital vessels which are basically for oil spills. Both the vessels are basically for oil spill response," the official said.

The main oil is diesel, which is floated. There is an oil dispersion collector that is needed. It is deployed there. Otherwise, it is not possible because of the spread in terms of the area, he said, adding, "I think that should not be a concern. Moreover, if the weather opens up slightly favourably, we should have a natural evaporation of 20 to 25 per cent." 

The official also said that the only issue is that the DG Shipping is yet to get the recovery plan from the salvage party.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)