Workers clear containers in Mumbai harbor

Workers clear containers in Mumbai harbor    An Indian official said workers were clearing Mumbai harbor today of containers spilled into the ocean after a collision between two ships over the weekend.
   Minister of State for Environment and Forests Shri Jairam Ramesh said Tuesday that authorities planed to corral floating containers and use floating cranes to lift them onto an anchored barge that would then take the containers to Jawarharlal Nehru Port (JNPT).
   Ramesh said the collision on Saturday between the container vessel MSC Chitra, which was proceeding from the Jawarharlal Nehru Port to the sea and another vessel, Khalijia 3, which was proceeding towards the Mumbai Port, occurred around 9:15 a.m. Aug. 7 and “appears to have been due to the fact that the two vessels were communicating on different VHF channels.”
   “Khalijia 3 collided with the port side of MSC Chitra damaging one of its hatches leading to ingress of water and consequent listing of MSC Chitra,” he said.
   While the bow of Khalijia 3 was damaged, the ship was proceeded to the port and is safely docked at the Mumbai Port Trust, he said.
   Agents of MSC Chitra, which is used by Mediterranean Shipping Co. in a service to East Africa, have appointed Smit Salvage for assessment and salvaging of the vessel, which he said was listing at about 35 degrees.
   Smit representatives boarded the vessel, secured the compartments and dropped the port and starboard anchors to prevent it from drifting, Ramesh said, and reported fuel oil appeared to be leaking from one of the wing tanks.
   He said the Navy carried out a survey of the main channel Monday morning and the channel was reported to be clear at the time and limited shipping movements were carried out.
   “MSC Chitra had in all 1,219 containers, 707 in the hold and 512 on the deck. The lashings of the containers cannot hold long on account of high pressure due to the listing of the vessel. This has resulted in about 150 containers having broken off and falling into the sea,” Ramesh said. “Consequently, shipping movements have been suspended pending fresh survey of the channel.”
   He said the MSC Chitra had 2,662 tons of heavy oil in its various tanks and 245 tons of diesel oil and that a Coast Guard vessel and three tugs from JNPT are spraying dispersant under the directions of the Coast Guard.
   Once the vessel's list stabilizes and is certified safe to board, the salvagers would board and remove the fuel from the various tanks into barges to eliminate threat of pollution, Ramesh said. Containers on deck would have to be removed with the help of tugs and crane and barge arrangement and taken to JNPT and then “removal of the remaining containers in the holds and salvage of the vessel would then be attended to,” he said.
   “The entire salvage is expected to take about 45 days,” he said.
   Carriers said authorities at JNPT have ceased all container vessel movement to and from the container terminals at nearby Nhava Sheva until further notice.
   As a result of the closure, some container carriers are altering port rotations to call at other ports until the port reopens. Maersk said it is discharging some Nhava Sheva import cargo at Jebel Ali, which will then be relayed to Nhava Sheva when it receives clearance from port officials.
   Reuters reported Tuesday that Ramesh told parliament that the port will reopen on Sunday and that leakage of oil from the ships had been contained. ' Chris Dupin