MSC Chitra, August 2010
An accident that led to a bunker spill near the Indian port of Mumbai has prompted calls for a ban in Indian ports on ships over 25-years old.
Captain P.V.K. Mohan, a senior member of India’s National Shipping Board and managing director of Hyderabad-based Seaways Shipping … has headed a committee set up by India’s Shipping Ministry to examine a report on the collision between two ships outside Mumbai in August last year.
The container ship MSC Chitra was holed in the accident and its bunker tanks were breached. As much as 800 metric tonnes (mt) of fuel leaked into the water. The vessel was built in 1980.
Mohan’s committee has made 18 suggestions, including the call for a ban on ships of more than 25-years old.
Other ideas include setting up an independent casualty investigation agency to report directly to the Shipping Ministry and restructuring decision-making procedures in the event on an emergency such as collision.