Mumbai: There has been no oil leakage from the grounded MSC Chitra since Monday evening but salvage and clean-up operations are now crucial.
"The vessel has stabilised though it continues to tilt at 60-70 degrees with no change in its position," Commandant S S Dasila, Indian Coast Guard, told Gulf News.
Two ships collided on Saturday near Mumbai in the sea between two of India's major ports — the Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
"We responded quickly by spraying Oil Spill Dispersants (OSP) which has to be carried out in the first eight hours to be successful and cannot be done in large areas."
The ship is not likely to sink and salvage operations have just begun.
Containers have also stopped falling into the sea and nine of them that drifted towards the Uran coast in Raigad district contained milk powder, said authorities.
There is a fear that over 200 containers that tumbled into the sea after the collision could hold dangerous chemicals and pesticides.
Clearing channels
Both ports will remain shut for the next few days until the navigational channels are cleared.
India's environment minister yesterday said that two of the country's busiest container ports would reopen by next week once a clean-up operation was complete after two cargo ships collided.
Jairam Ramesh told parliament that he had been informed by the coastguard that Mumbai harbour "would be cleared by August 15 and normal transportation restored".
The Coast Guard (CG) is conducting regular aerial surveillance to help in monitoring the oil spills over the sensitive areas of the Mumbai coast. Residual patches of oil have been sighted in the adjoining areas of BARC and Sewri.
The oil patches off the islands of Elephanta and Butcher have been cleared by the spraying of chemical dispersants, said the CG official.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has started collecting seawater samples from Mumbai's beaches and from the coastal districts of the state, said Dr Y B Sontake of MPCB.
"The results will be known in a couple of days."
Marine life
The oil spill has now spread to Uran in the Raigad district where the impact of the disaster is being observed on marine life. The Maharashtra government said the situation was under control as Coast Guard officials had plugged the leaks. However, a Coast Guard official said that the oil had stopped leaking since most of the oil in the tanks in the tilted position had spilled out. It would have been too dangerous to go near the listing vessel.
Meanwhile, police will question port officials from the Vessel Traffic Management System which monitors ship movement in the port area.
It has yet to be confirmed whether the accident occurred because the two ships were using communication systems on different radio frequencies. Also, the ships did not have pilot boats guiding them during crossings.
Ramesh said "there is no oil spill off the Mumbai coast", but Ashok Chavan, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, said that 400 to 500 tonnes of oil may have leaked from the MSC Chitra.
"The situation is under control now. I was briefed by coastguard officials that the leakage from where the oil was spilling out from MSC Chitra has been plugged yesterday and no further oil spill has been reported," Chavan added.
Fishing has been suspended off the Mumbai coast, while people have been warned not to eat locally caught seafood.
— With inputs from agencies
