Out of the 280-odd containers that had fallen off MSC Chitra around 140 containers are yet to be traced. This is what is endangering the movement of marine traffic in Mumbai’s harbour and the surrounding seas.
“As all the containers are yet to be traced, the Indian Navy ships are escorting the merchant vessels including the oil tankers to enter and leave Mumbai Port Trust as well as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust,” said captain Manohar Nambiar, chief public relations officer, defence, Mumbai. The escorting that is being done by the Indian Navy has been named Operation Pathfinder.
Around 283 containers had fallen from MSC Chitra into sea due to the tilt caused by collision between MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia III. According to the figures available with The Asian Age, 77 containers have been beached, 27 containers that were floating have been salvaged and 11 other are still submerged. Buoys have been used to mark the locations or to identify the 11 sunk containers.
“38 containers of MSC Chitra are still floating and spread at various locations. These 38 have been identified,” added captain Nambiar. Therefore, a total of 153 containers have been identified, but the Herculean task of locating the remaining 130-odd containers is still underway as no one knows where the rest are. What is a matter of graver concern is the fact that two of the sunk containers are carrying hazardous materials. This is the reason behind not opening all the three navigation channels of Mumbai. Currently, only one navigation channel has been opened for the movement of vessels.
As the threat of collision with the missing containers still remains, the Indian Navy till Tuesday has escorted as many as 74 ships in and out of Mumbai harbour.
“Tuesday was the sixth consecutive day of Operation Pathfinder,” added the defence spokesperson.
The Indian Navy is trying to locate the remaining containers by way of side scan Sonar on the Naval ships as well as with the help of helicopters. Survey boats with specialised equipment too are surveying the channel so that the remaining channels can be opened for traffic.
Meanwhile, experts from Smit Salvage, the private agency appointed by the MSC Ship Management have entered the grounded ship to pump out around 1,747 metric tonnes of oil from MSC Chitra.