Mumbai: Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has appointed SMIT Salvage, a Netherlands-based company to control the oil-spill caused due to a collision between two cargo ships off the Mumbai coast, a senior port official said.
Currently, the company is working hard with 11 vessels to look after the operation there, the official said.
"We have appointed SMIT Salvage to look after the oil-spill. The company is working there with 11 off-shore vessels out of which six vessels they received from Mumbai-based Great Offshore Limited," the port official said.
Meanwhile, Directorate General of Shipping`s Chief Nautical Advisor M M Saggi said the anti-pollution operation by the Coast Guard is still on.
Anti-pollution disposal spray systems are on the job. All coastal districts of Maharashtra are on high alert as the oil slick has spread to the Alibaug and Uran areas, and also
close to Elephanta caves.
Concerns are that it may also affect the mangrove belt along the coastline.
The Coast Guard has said it will be tough to contain the oil-spill because of tidal conditions.
"Coast Guard officials are working hard to find out the leakage as the oil-spill is a major concern as one of the vessels was carrying over 2,000 tonnes of oil. Presently, the coast guard officials are on search and rescue mode," Saggi said here.
Two Panamanian cargo ships -- MSC Chitra and Merchant Vessel Khalija -- collided yesterday off the Mumbai coast causing an oil-spill from one of the vessels.
No casualties were reported.
Thirty-three crew members, including two Pakistanis, were rescued following the incident.
PTI
