Chennai: Preliminary probe by officials on Tuesday
"confirmed" that Singapore-flagged vessel `MV Prabhu Daya` had
hit a boat on March 1 off the Kerala coast, but it was yet to
be established whether the foreign ship had collided with
Indian fishing boat `Don-1` whose three fishermen died in the
mishap.
As for physical proof, the team of officials found some
"marks" on the port side (left side of the ship) and its rear
confirming that it had hit a boat, official sources said.
Officials, who inspected the vessel now anchored off
Chennai port, checked the charts, its electronic navigation
systems and recorded statements of the captain, helmsman (one
who steers the ship) and the crew, they said.
"The investigations reveal that one second officer, who
was on watch happened to notice the incident and presumed that
the boats cleared off and informed the captain in the middle
of the night on March 1. The incident has happened between
0045 and 0055 hours," they said.
Meanwhile, Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) of a
nearby port had recorded three ships in the area and spotted
MV Prabhu Daya, "exactly in that position" (where the incident
was said to have happened by fishermen) between 0045 and 0055
hours," they said.
Data obtained by computer-based navigation information
system called Electronic Chart Display and Information System
too confirmed that the vessel was "very much" in the area.
The investigations will continue tomorrow, they added.
The probe team had five officials - three Maritime
Mercantile Department (MMD) - one each from Chennai, Mumbai
and New Mangalore, and an official each from Coast Guard and
Navy.
MV Prabhu Daya, which had left Goa for China via
Trincomalee in Sri Lanka and Singapore with its consignment of
iron ore, arrived here last night after she was asked by the
Directorate General of Shipping to report to the nearest
Indian port to assist in the probe into the March 1 incident.
Two fishermen were killed in the incident and three
others went missing. The body of another fisherman was
recovered later from the boat wreckage.
PTI
