110 metric tonnes heavy fuel oil spillage midsea off Goa Coastguard says beaches and tourism safe * Salvage operation on
By Pamela D'Mello
Panaji, Mar 23: A freak accident during nocturnal midsea loading operations at Goa's outer harbour Panaji port led to a spillage of an estimated 110 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil off Goa, sending Coast Guard into a damage control operation here.
Three Dornier aircraft sent in from Daman flew sorties from the INS Hansa naval base through the day, spraying over 1000 litres of dispersants to sink the oil. A couple of advanced patrol vessels with specialised skimmers to collect oil and residue will begin operations after sundown through Thursday, Coast Guard commander Commandant L H Sharma told this correspondent.
"The slick is clear off the beaches, there is nothing to fear for tourism," he said, estimating the entire operation would take until Friday. Breaking up into two to three patches the slick had travelled eight miles south in 16 hours towards the state's southern extremes.
The state government, however has a contingency plan ready, fearing some residual tar ball washing ashore, while the Goa-headquartered National Institute of Oceanography has begun assessing damage to marine environment and life.
The accident occured in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, at 1 am, when a iron ore-laden barge manoevering mid-sea to come alongside the 73,000 DWT Singapore registered Maritime Wisdom bulk carrier, ruptured its side, ripping a hole in its fuel tanks.
An estimated 110 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil from the Maritime Wisdom's 700 MT fill up, spewed out into the sea --- four nautical miles off the famed tourist hotspot of Candolim in North Goa --- before the rip was plugged at 4 am Wednesday.
Loading iron ore midsea from local ore exporting firms, the Maritime Wisdom had been anchored for a week at Panaji's outer harbour port, and was bound for China --- currently Goa's second largest buyer of iron-ore.
Coast Guard units in Goa began aerial appraisal at daybreak. Later three Dorniers flown in from Daman commenced spraying operations by afternoon.
Opting for a dual strategy of using dispersants to sink the fuel and skimmers to collect residue, the Coast Guard ran into unfavourable weather conditions and high swell preventing the use of rubber booms to contain the slick spread.
By mid afternoon, Mormugao Port Trust officials descibed the slick as a 3 x 1.5 sqmile patch, travelling south with wind and tide.
Goa chief secretary Ms Kiran Dhingra called an emergency meet of the state's agencies to stay on alert. Marine ecological damage, she later told mediapersons, will have to be assessed, with fish mortality expected.
Port activities in recent years have led to similar accidents along the Goa coast, creating dodgy situations for some tourist areas in the state.
Stormy weather in the mid-ninetees dragged a bulk carrier MV Sea Transporter across the bay, just metres off a luxury resort, before it threatening fuel was sucked out from its tanks. Similar conditions led to another transhipper, River Princess, drifting metres off the Candolim beach. In the latter case, successive governments have proven unable to remove the still-looming threat of the River Princess from the Goa coast. (ENDS)
