War ships visited Paradip

To commeorate NAVY WEEK in December, 7 warships have arrived at Paradip on 07th November morning. They are INS Jhalsa, INS Rajput, INS Khanjar, INS Kora, INS Kulish, INS Kuthar and INS Virat. There is a big rush of people from various places of Odisha to visit the ships as the ships are kept free for visit of Public from 10 AM to 5 PM on 07th November. Several thousands of people are taken care of Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard whose special busses who arrived at Paradip, carrying the public from Gate No.4 of PPT to the war ships. PPT is not charging any entry fee for the people visiting warships and they have provided two jettys Coal Berth No.2 and Mulitipurpose berth for acomodating the ships. The ships are ultra modern war ships of Indian Navy fitted with Missiles, Rocket Luncher, Machine Guns, War helicopters etc. On 08th Chief Minister of Odisha with his officials are to visit these ships at Port and to hold a high level meeting with the Navy,Coast Guard, Marine Police officials on securty of vulnerable Odisha coast especially the major Port Paradip. It has been reported in media few days back that the terrorists are planning a 26/11 mumbai type of attack on various parts of India.

Central team reached Paradip and inspected the capsized ship

 Following reports of minor oil spills, a five-member team of the central shipping ministry Saturday reached Paradip port and inspected the ship that sank off its coast earlier last month.

The team includes P.V.K Mohan, director general of shipping, and Srinivas Nair, director general of port operations. 

The decision to dispatch the team of experts was taken by the shipping ministry after Paradip Port authorities sought its intervention following reports of oil spill from the ship that could pose a danger to marine life. 

MV Black Rose, a Mongolian registered vessel, sank Sep 9 with 924 tonnes of furnace oil on board. The port authorities have said 900 tonnes of the oil -- in semi-solid state -- is still inside the ship, but there have been small spills. Pollution control authorities have reported patches of oil on the coast three to four kilometres away. 

Apart from the 924 tonnes of furnace oil, the sunken ship was carrying about 25,000 tonnes of iron ore fines. Twenty seven crew members were on board. All but a Ukrainian engineer, whose body was found 10 days later, were rescued. 

The Paradip Port Trust has not been able to retrieve the oil and has invited bids to pump out oil from the ship. The Wildlife Society of Orissa has expressed concern that delay in removing the oil could harm the breeding ground of Olive Ridley turtles nearby. 

Experts are on standby and work will resume only after the weather improves

Visakhapatnam-based J. Enterprises and Divers awarded the contract to plug air vents, sounding pipes and other holes to ensure that there is no oil leakage from the ship on Sep 26.The firm commenced workon Sep 27.But the Work was stopped on Sep 28 after sea condition became rough due to cyclonic circulation and later due to formation of low pressure area over the west central bay and adjoining north-west bay off the north Andhra Pradesh and south Orissa coast of bay of bengal.

The port authorities last week issued two tender notifications, one calling for spot quotations to plug the air vents, sounding pipes and other holes to prevent oil spill. Another tender was floated for taking out the oil from the sunken vessel. 

“The last date for submission of bids for taking out oil is Oct 5. One port trust vessel with oil containment booms and skimmers has been deployed near the sunken vessel to tackle the spilled oil along with a coast guard vessel,” a port official said.

Environmentalists warns,oil spillage from the ship could harm rare Olive Ridley sea turtles,

Environmentalists says that parts of the beach have turned black as oil carried by waves continues to come ashore.They also say that dead fish have been found on the coast near Paradip port.

But port authorities insist that there will not be a major spill because most of the oil is "semi-solid" and remains inside three sealed containers.
"If urgent steps are not taken by concerned agencies to empty the fuel tank of the capsized vessel, the oil spill may spread onto Gahirmatha beach, posing a serious threat to the mass nesting grounds of Olive Ridley sea turtles," environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty said.

"The turtles are likely to begin their mass nesting in the area by the end of this month.

"The sea waves in the region break from south to north, which will push the oil spill towards Gahirmatha beach. This may also cause high mortality among marine species including jelly fish and crabs. That in turn will lead to starvation among Olive Ridleys, who feed on them," Mr Mohanty said.

Gahirmatha sea beach is five nautical miles away from the spot where the ship ran into difficulties.

Orissa's state government has asked for help from central government, saying it is worried about the delay in salvaging the ship and the possibility of a serious oil spill.

The beaches of Orissa are one of the world's last nesting grounds for Olive Ridleys, which have been listed under the US Endangered Species Act.

Paradip port considers legal action against the ship blackrose owner

 A lawsuit is likely to be filed against the owner of the ship that sank off Paradip port earlier this month for allegedly providing forged documents.port authorities found that the insurance certificate provided to the port by the ship officials was forged.

    Port came to know from the insurance company that the certificate number belongs to some other vessel. They (the officials of the sunken ship) forged somehow.Port is considering legal action against the ship owner. The port authorities are consulting maritime lawyers for a final decision.

Bulkcarrier BLACK ROSE sank off Orissa

The Chinese cargo m/v "Black Rose", 22263 gt (IMO: 7602455), with about 22,000 tons of iron ore sank off Paradip port on Sep 9. Coast Guard and the port authorities have rescued the 27 crew members on board. Port officials said they received a distress signal from the "Black Rose" after it had left its berth around 5 p.m. As it tried to anchor outside the harbour, it developed some problems and began sinking. Rescue forces received an SOS from the ship's captain and rushed to the scene of disaster, rescue operations were going on till late in the night. The vessel, operating under a Mongolian flag, capsized 5-6 km (3-4 miles) off the harbour area after it had loaded iron ore at Paradip port. Of the total 27 crew members, 26 have been rescued. The accident had not disrupted shipping traffic. Rescuers are trying to find the missing crew member but local police believe he has probably died.
The ship was built in 1977 at Ishikawajima Harima H.Ind.Aioa. Loa 187.74.Ll 178.01 B 28.43 H 15.32 Dg 10.74. 19.557 gt 37.648 dwt.
History:
1977-"Costanza M"-Comp.Comercial y.Nav.San Martin.Monrovia-Lbr. 1994-"Constanza" -Ultragas International S.A.Panama-Pan. 1994-"Llaima"-Sociedad Naviera Ultragas Ltda.Valparaiso-Chl. 1998- 22.263 gt 37.657 dwt 2005-"Black Rose"-Black Rose Maritime Ltd.Mng.(Mongolia)