‘Arresting’ of drifting dredger begins

The incident comes close on the heels of sinking of Tridevi Prem, another dredger on September 2 at 2.5 nautical miles away from the port

Bhagavati Prem, the dredger owned by Mumbai-based Mercator Ltd., started to drift from anchorage.

The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) on Monday night beached dredger Bhagavati Prem that was drifting after its anchor was snapped at Surathkal-Mukka coast near here amidst concerns from local fishermen and environmentalists about the possible environment damage.

Port Chairman A.V. Ramana told The Hindu, "Last night we took a conscious decision to beach the vessel at the nearest coast to avert any possible sinking and consequent environment damages. Three tugboats safely beached the dredger on our land," he said.

Asked about the concern of fishermen and environmentalists and his Monday's statement that the vessel would be beached on NMPT land, Mr. Ramana said coastline nearer to the Port belongs to it as per the Indian Ports Act, 1908. "Since the vessel did not have any propulsion, it was beached at the nearest coast to avoid any possible sinking," he added.

On the concerns about scrapping the vessel on the beach itself, Mr. Ramana said the Directorate General of Shipping has already asked dredger owner M/s Mercator to remove the ship. "Beaching is a temporary measure to avert any untoward incident, particularly when there is a forecast of another low pressure being formed," he said.

If the dredger is not removed despite DG Shipping directions, NMPT would acquire it through legal proceedings and auction the same, Mr. Ramana added. He blamed DG Shipping for not pushing Mercator to remove the dredger from the Port premises.

Consequences of sinking of the dredger would be more serious to its beaching. Salvaging a sunken vessel is difficult and costlier compared to removing a beached vessel. "One does not know what is there inside the dredger that could damage the environment," he said.

Bhagavati Prem began drifting after its anchor was snapped on Sunday. Mercator's another dredger Tridev Prem sunk 2.5 nautical miles away from the Port on September 2 after the crew refused to allow a team to repair it. NMPT had terminated the contract with Mercator for dredging the Port recently and asked the company to remove the dredgers from the Port area.