A major disaster was averted when a Chennai-based private vessel M.V. Jala Vahini tried to forcibly enter Visakhapatnam Port on Monday. If the pilot of Visakhapatnam Port Trust had not intervened and taken the helm of the vessel it would have rammed into the terminal.
Setting aside speculative reports on what led to the situation, the incident has exposed the vulnerability of the Visakhapatnam harbour. Questions are being raised on how the vessel sailed up to the mouth of the harbour without being questioned.
Any incident like ramming into the oil and gas terminal or running aground would have spelt major disaster both for VPT and Eastern Naval Command, blocking the entry and exit of vessels. Fortunately, there was no oil or LPG tanker berthed at the offshore terminal at that time or a collision could have resulted in disaster for the city as well.
Was there a lapse on part of the officials concerned? “There could be,” said a senior VPT official. The vessel sailed for almost 45 minutes from the anchorage point to the harbour area without being intercepted. The ship crossed both the anchorage and pilotage point and almost reached the oil berth, without being intercepted.
