Karnataka - Mangalore   

Merchant ship sinks, Coast Guard keeps a watch

MANGALORE: The Chinese merchant vessel Asian Forest, abandoned by its crew off Mangalore coast when it listed on Saturday afternoon, has sunk. It sank about 6 nautical miles (11 km) southwest of the New Mangalore Port.

The Coast Guard sources said the officials in its fast patrol vessel Kasturba Gandhi who had kept a watch since Saturday night have reported that it has submerged fully.

Braving the rough weather, four Coast Guard officials, headed by Commandant R.K. Sharma, continued to keep vigil around the area where it sank to see whether there was any leakage of fuel from the ship. Since the ships carried heavy load of fuel, any leak could harm undersea life and eco-system besides posing health hazard to people along the nearby coast.

An officer monitoring the situation from Coast Guard control room said the weather was so bad that the rescue vessel was rolling (moving sideways) 15 to 20 degrees even as the wind speed was 35 nautical miles (65 km).

Commandant Padam Shekhar Jhan, Commander of the Karnataka Coast Guard, said he was mobilising an aircraft for surveillance. The removal of oil and salvaging the wreck was the responsibility of the owner, he said and added that communication had been established with the owner, who was expected to send a team soon. He agreed that salvaging could take a long time, particularly because of monsoon and rough weather. New Mangalore Port Trust Deputy Conservator Pradeep Mohanty said the ship had sunk close to Ullal and was far away from the channel of the Port and had not affected the normal traffic. He said the ship’s crew would be deported to China after interrogation.

Deputy Director of Department of Fisheries Sureshkumar Ullal said the sunken ship might cause problems to fishermen in future. The department might have to put some signals or buoys to ensure that fishermen avoided the area. If trawler boats attempt to fish around the ship their expensive nets would get entangled and get damaged, he said.

Mr. Ullal said fishermen usually marked such area on their maps and avoided them as had been the case with Kasargod, where a ship sank some 30 years ago.

Deputy Environmental Officer of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Rajashekhar Puranik said there was no contamination in the sea waters at Ullal, Kotepura and surrounding areas. He said the board would monitor the situation. Samples would be collected once in two or three days, he said.

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