A dredger caught in a legal wrangle and lying anchored three nautical miles off the Kollam port has started sinking. Four crew members on board were on Tuesday rescued by a team from the Neendakara Coastal police station on a directive from the Indian Coast Guard and handed over to Kollam Port authorities.
The four on board were natives of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. They said the hull developed a crack and water began seeping in, following which the Coast Guard was informed.
After verifying the documents of the four, they were accommodated in a quarters of the Ports Department. The owners were also informed.
It was on March 26, 2013, that the dredger Hansita, owned by the Mumbai-based Megha Dredging Private Limited, docked at Kollam for repairs on developing engine trouble en route to Karwar. After repairs, the port authorities did not give clearance for the vessel to sail as the owners failed to pay port charges of Rs.40 lakh. The owners then moved court. When the State-level coastal shipping programme was launched from Kollam, the port authorities moved the ship three nautical miles away to facilitate the inaugural function. Since then the ship had been lying anchored there.
