the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said, the unmanned tanker reportedly carrying naphtha cargo and drifting in distress towards the Goa coast in the region of the Cabo Raj Bhavan, is fully the responsibility of the Mormugao Port Trust.
“The State if need be will file proceedings against the MPT under the law,” Sawant said, adding however,
that the Captain of Ports, James Braganza and other top officials of the State government were continuously monitoring the situation.
Sawant said, one of the anchors of the ship was still active and it was therefore drifting towards the Cabo very slowly.
The ship is currently about six to seven kilometers out at sea and efforts are on despite inclement weather to first man the ship.
“The first step is to get some crew onboard using helicopters. But since the weather is bad, it will take some time,” Sawant said, adding that MPT, Director General Shipping, Coast Guard and all other related State government officials will jointly work to handle the emergency.
An unmanned tanker believed to be carrying a cargo of naphtha, anchored at the Mormugao Port
Trust in South Goa, has begun to drift towards the shores of the State capital, after strong winds and a rough current caused its anchor line to break on
Thursday.
Naphtha is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
According to the Indian Coast Guard, the Port Trust authorities are in the process of stopping the 3000 ton capacity tanker, before it drifts further towards Panaji, and tow it back to its berth at the major port.
“Mormugao Port is handling the incident. We are closely monitoring the situation,” Indian Coast Guard spokesperson Akshay Jain told reporters.
A red alert has been issued in Goa in view of heavy rains and rough winds over the last 48 hours.
