Huge oil spill as ships collide on the Hooghly

A cargo vessel on its way to the Kolkata port rammed another such ship bound for Colombo on the Hooghly river here on Tuesday.

Though none of the crew was injured, both vessels suffered extensive damage and a large quantity of oil spilled into the river as a result of the collision.

Non-hazardous cargo

Registered in Bahamas, Green Valley collided with Tiger Spring — registered in Gibraltar and coming from Singapore — around 12 p.m. while trying to pass through the narrow Hooghly Point, which is the confluence of the Hooghly and the Rupnarayan rivers. Both were containing non-hazardous cargo, according to Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) officials.

While the Green Valley was taken to Diamond Harbour for repair, the 6000-tonne Tiger Spring containing 422 containers was left stranded here. The spot where the Tiger Spring got rammed has been completely damaged with the containers precariously hanging over the water.

Senior KoPT officials, however, ruled out any possibility of the Tiger Spring's sinking. Ship movement on the route, too, remained unaffected.

Local residents said the ship had tilted immediately after the collision. A thick film of black oil the crew was forced to offload was seen floating around the ship, sparking fears of an environmental hazard.

“Not serious”

Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Ray, however, did not attach much importance to the spill, saying that oil dumped by the crew was “nominal” and “is not a serious matter.”

Members of the 22-strong-crew of Tiger Spring were seen taking stock of the damage.

According to KoPT officials, the spot — also known as blind point — poses a challenge to pilots of all vessels passing through the region as it witnesses very strong currents. Moreover, due to heavy deposits of silt over the years, the western channel of the Hooghly here has become unfit for navigation — leaving just the eastern channel open for ship movement.

Moreover, communication failure between the vessels is also not ruled out. “Very often, ships come too close to each other at this point but such a big accident is unprecedented. Incidents of ships getting stranded after hitting sandbars have occurred in the past,” M.L. Meena, Chairman of KoPT, said.