Mangaluru: It’s a month since Syrian vessel, MV Princess Miral sank in the sea near Battapadi of Ullala. As of now, it is unlikely that the oil will be cleared from the ship till the end of August.
There is no development except that two separate teams from Mumbai and Goa have arrived to inspect the oil clearance and other issues. As of now, the ship is at Battamppadi in partially submerged state. However, oil removal operation requires experts who can enter the ship as the water is upto deck. In the present situation, there is no expert who in a position to operate as the sea wave is very strong.
At present, the Ministry of Shipping has brought the tugboat Water Lily to Mangalore Port and docked it. The aim is to control the oil spill and the Coast Guard ship and Coast Guard Police boats are keeping an eye on it. However, continuous surveillance of the ship is currently not being carried out.
Coast Guard officials said that long-term surveillance will be carried out in such cases. On June 21, the cargo sank off the Coast of Ullala and coast guard personnel rescued 15 people on board. It is learnt that these people are now in Mangaluru and the work of taking them back to Syria has not been completed due to problem in their records. Representatives of the ship’s owners are in constant efforts in this regard and the personnel are likely to be picked up next week.
Meanwhile, DG Shipping and Customs officials have unearthed the factors that led to the Syrian ship’s arrival at Ullala coast on its way to Italy from Malaysia. According to the information available, a hole in the bottom of the vessel was found while on its way to Sri Lanka due to which it reached Ullala coast.
