Navy to assess condition of grounded naphtha tanker

 A joint operation, involving multiple agencies including an Indian Navy helicopter team, is underway to assess the precarious condition of a naphtha gas carrying tanker, which ran aground off the shores near Panaji earlier this week.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office on Saturday said the unmanned tanker, which ran around nearly 2 nautical miles off the shore is currently stuck on a rock, and is carrying a cargo of 2,000 tons of naphtha and has onboard 50 tons of heavy oil and 19 tons of diesel.

"A crew of four experts and support have gone onboard the vessel to assess the condition of the grounded vessel," the statement said. A three-member expert team comprising of nautical advisor to the Government of India Captain KP Jayakumar, Mohit Behl of Director General for Shipping and Mercantile Marine department engineer Bodh Raj were in-charge of planning remedial action.

"A 24x7 monitoring is being carried out by different agencies including MPT signal station. Port assessment and the Coast Guard aerial inspection found no oil spillage. The Indian Coast Guard has also stationed one oil spill response vessel in the vicinity of the grounded vessel," the statement also said.

The unmanned tanker Nu Shi Nalini was anchored five nautical miles off Goa on the directions of the Goa-based Mormugao Port Trust and on Thursday began to drift towards the shore of the state capital, due to strong winds and rough seas.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has already ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident and said that the role of the MPT officials and the ships captain and owner would also be probed for potentially creating an ecological scare off Goa.IANS