C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The 31-year-old oil tanker M T Pratibha Cauvery, which was grounded near Chennai coast just prior to Cyclone Nilam on Thursday, had detainable deficiencies on four counts while being inspected in Visakhapatnam port putting into question its seaworthiness.
According to documents available with Express, the ship, had been given four detainable deficiencies code while a inspection of the ship was conducted at Visakhapatnam Port on July 31, 2012.
Among the deficiencies certified by Visakhapatnam Port include leaking engine room. The inspection report says the engine room of the vessel had bilges near generator full of oil leakages. There were also leakages in sea water pumps and fresh water pumps. Interestingly, the inspection report says the vessel has not recorded a near miss incident and reported it to office.
Some others include the breaking of a pilot ladder when the captain was boarding the vessel.
The inspection report also states that the crew was unable to demonstrate the distress signaling equipment, which is important in the event of disasters like cyclone Nilam. The inspection report says the crew was unable to demonstrate VHF-DSC on watch on watch keeping mode. Even the operating instruction displayed is of different make or model, says the report.
Interestingly, Indian Navy and Coastguard officials have pointed that the crew was contacting the Port authorities only using their mobile phones instead of using the distress call system. If going by the allegations of the both the lifeboats of the ship were not functioning and this cost the lives of six crewmembers while they risked their lives after allegedly getting the orders from the captain to abandon the ship. Interestingly, Capt P V K Mohan Committee, constituted by the Shipping Ministry to examine the inquiry report on the collision between two ships, MSC Chitra and Khalijia III, near Mumbai port earlier has recommended to ban the entry of over 25-year-old ships in Indian ports.
Meanwhile, the relatives of Anand Mohandoss have blamed the ship management for not relieving the second engineer despite his contract got over. Mohandoss had written desperate letters to several agencies. “Why did nobody respond to the crew,” a close relative questioned. Port officials said it was the Shipping Welfare Officer was to take the note of the incident and should have passed it on to the management.
Chennai:
The 31-year-old oil tanker M T Pratibha Cauvery, which was grounded near Chennai coast just prior to Cyclone Nilam on Thursday, had detainable deficiencies on four counts while being inspected in Visakhapatnam port putting into question its seaworthiness.
According to documents available with Express, the ship, had been given four detainable deficiencies code while a inspection of the ship was conducted at Visakhapatnam Port on July 31, 2012.
Among the deficiencies certified by Visakhapatnam Port include leaking engine room. The inspection report says the engine room of the vessel had bilges near generator full of oil leakages. There were also leakages in sea water pumps and fresh water pumps. Interestingly, the inspection report says the vessel has not recorded a near miss incident and reported it to office.
Some others include the breaking of a pilot ladder when the captain was boarding the vessel.
The inspection report also states that the crew was unable to demonstrate the distress signaling equipment, which is important in the event of disasters like cyclone Nilam. The inspection report says the crew was unable to demonstrate VHF-DSC on watch on watch keeping mode. Even the operating instruction displayed is of different make or model, says the report.
Interestingly, Indian Navy and Coastguard officials have pointed that the crew was contacting the Port authorities only using their mobile phones instead of using the distress call system. If going by the allegations of the both the lifeboats of the ship were not functioning and this cost the lives of six crewmembers while they risked their lives after allegedly getting the orders from the captain to abandon the ship. Interestingly, Capt P V K Mohan Committee, constituted by the Shipping Ministry to examine the inquiry report on the collision between two ships, MSC Chitra and Khalijia III, near Mumbai port earlier has recommended to ban the entry of over 25-year-old ships in Indian ports.
Meanwhile, the relatives of Anand Mohandoss have blamed the ship management for not relieving the second engineer despite his contract got over. Mohandoss had written desperate letters to several agencies. “Why did nobody respond to the crew,” a close relative questioned. Port officials said it was the Shipping Welfare Officer was to take the note of the incident and should have passed it on to the management.
No comments:
Post a Comment