M A I N   N E W S

Sinking vessel spills oil along Mumbai coast
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, August 8
Authorities are working overtime to contain the oil spill caused due to a collision between two cargo ships off the Mumbai coast.

According to officials of the Coast Guard and the Navy, the Panamian-registered MSC Chitra which collided with MV Khalija III, also flying the Panama flag, was in danger of sinking. MSC Chitra had tilted to one side hours after the collision and most of it is submerged, officials said. MSC Chitra, which was pulling out of the port when she collided with the incoming MV Khalija III, was carrying 2,662 tonne of fuel in her tanks, according to information filed by her crew with the maritime authorities. After the collision, fuel from her tanks started coming out.

Containers of cargo on board MSC Chitra were carried into the sea by the rough monsoon weather.

Meanwhile, an FIR was also registered against the crew members of MSC Chitra — from which oil was spilling — and MV Khalija-III, a day after the two vessels had collided resulting in huge oil spill, police said.