A derelict ship MV MOL Comfort which caught fire in Arabian Sea on Saturday, now pose the threat of leakage of hazardous substance from the containers on board. The Indian Coast Guard, which is monitoring the fire-fighting operation, has directed the company to tow away the ship from Mumbai, to ensure least environment impact on the west coast. According to sources in Coast Guard, the ship is likely to cross the Indian sea border by Tuesday night. It is headed towards Oman.
The ship had broken into two on June 17. One part was being tugged by the owners of the ship, when it caught fire. All 26 crew members of the ship have been rescued by the Coast Guard. Indian coast guard ship Samudra Prahari was immediately diverted to monitor the situation and undertake firefighting.
“Despite best efforts by Samudra Prahari, fire continues to spread. Around 90% of the containers have already burnt,” said a Coast Guard official. He added that the containers had a hazardous noxious substance. “The exact nature of the substance has not been established, since we cannot go near the burning ship,” said the officer.
