The closure of the Mumbai port and the suspension of cargo movement into the city have sparked fears of fuel shortage in Maharashtra. The port was closed on Sunday, a day after merchant vessel MSC Chitra collided with m.v. Khalijia-III, leading to a massive oil spill in the Arabian sea off Mumbai.
Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level meeting of State agencies on Tuesday, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said the supply of crude and petrol could become a concern if the navigation channel was not opened till Sunday.
“Petrol and diesel are major issues for Maharashtra since we have only one channel and we rely on imports. We are hopeful that navigation along the channel will be normalised by Thursday or Friday. The salvaging team from Singapore has started work. The Navy is mapping the entire area to estimate the number of sunken containers. They will submit a report to the JNPT [Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust],” Mr. Chavan said.
A preliminary survey by the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) showed that there were containers in the navigation channel, roughly a 35-km stretch, Saroj Tahiliani, Head (Personnel), told The Hindu over telephone.
Ms. Tahiliani said there were nine ships waiting to set sail from the Mumbai port and nine more from the JNPT. Thirteen were waiting to come into the Mumbai port and 18 at the JNPT.
The salvage operations are being conducted by M/s. SMIT International Singapore, which has mobilised equipment and manpower, a press note from the Directorate-General of Shipping said. The cost of the operations is being borne by the Panama-based company owning MSC Chitra.
“The companies will have to pay [for damages and cleaning]. The D-G Shipping is handling all claims. The companies have third party insurance,” State Environment Minister Suresh Shetty said.
“The salvager is trying to stabilise the ship and pump out the remaining oil estimated to be about 2,000 tonnes. The operation would take 5-6 days, given the need to keep the ship stable and provide her with ballast water in an effort to slowly correct her listing, which is currently stable around 75 degrees,” the note said.
As part of the operations, an accommodation barge was brought close to MSC Chitra to prevent containers from falling into the sea and their spread in the navigation channel and beyond. The seepage of oil from the ship has stopped. “No further seepage is expected if the ship remains in its present condition,” the note said.
Two to three ships from the Coast Guard are monitoring the situation.
Impact assessment
An estimate of the losses and the damage to the environment are yet to be drawn. Experts from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, have been assigned the task of carrying out the environmental impact assessment of the oil spill, Environment Secretary Valsa Nair told The Hindu over telephone.
The NIO would be conducting tests on deep water samples and studying the impact on marine life. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, along with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, would be studying the shore samples for contamination.
Mr. Chavan said the fish samples which had been tested so far were found to be contaminated. To prevent the oil from touching the mangroves, mopping-up operations with the help of gunny and straw bags were being planned.
“Honestly, we don't have the expertise in oil spill. So we need all the advice we can get on the cleaning. We are forming a technical team, including one of the oil companies, to advise us on the best agency to choose for cleaning,” an official of the Environment department said.
Mr. Chavan called for making the contents of the containers public. “If a container floats ashore, people should know what it has,” he said.
Meanwhile, a list of the 31 containers with hazardous material, a copy of which is with The Hindu , has been circulated to all the control rooms and coastal police stations. The list gives UN numbers which indicate the hazardous material inside the box. “If any of them spot a container on the shore, they can see the number on it and [tally it with the list] to know its contents,” Quaiser Khalid, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Port Zone told The Hindu .
As per the list obtained from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, there are 24 containers with the UN number 1823, a code for sodium hydroxide or caustic soda. There are two containers each with the UN number 3349 standing for pyrethroid pesticide (solid and poisonous) and the number 3077 simply indicating “environmentally hazardous substance.”
One container with the number 3018 stands contains methyl parathion (pesticide) and one marked with 3048 has aluminium phosphide pesticide. There is no mention of the contents of the box marked with the number 1133.
Assurance from port
“We are only concerned about the containers with hazardous material. We have not really bothered to find out about the rest, having tea bags and milk power. Only five of the containers are actually hazardous. But we have a categorical assurance from the Mumbai Port Trust that all the containers with hazardous material are intact and they are watertight,” Ms. Nair said.
