'Coast guard not alerted early on amount of spill'

CHENNAI: The spill that occurred after the collision of two ships off Ennore port last Saturday was due to a rupture in an underwater fuel tank of Dawn Kanchipuram, said Indian Coast Guard inspector general (East) Rajan Bargotra.Kanchipuram that leaked oil has come under fire after the directorate general of shipping ordered a probe into the collision.On Friday , police impounded both ships.
Bargotra said, “The collision was a major accident but a minor (oil) spill that occurred in nearly 34,000 square metres on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal“. While miscommunication between the two ships is said to the cause of the collision, events leading to the oil spill remain unclear.
The accident occurred when the oil-tanker Dawn Kanchipuram was entering the port and LPG-tanker BW Maple was exiting. Recalling the collision, Bargotra said, “Two tanks of Dawn Kanchipuram were hit by the collision, one above the waterline and one below. A fuel tank underwater which contained heavy fuel oil (HFO) leaked into the ocean before the port authorities could deploy booms around the ship to contain the spill.“
Over the last week, the Coast Guard has removed about 100 tonnes of oil sludge from the shoreline at Ennore in Ramakrishna Nagar Kuppam beach alone. Bargotra said, “The tank that leaked was almost empty , containing a few tonnes of oil. Some pipelines may have also snapped.“
Within minutes after the collision at 4am, oil from the fuel tank poured into the ocean. “Port authorities would have focussed on ensuring the ships do not sink before taking up mitigation measures,“ Bargotra said.
The Coast Guard was alerted at 6.30am. By 7.30am, the Coast Guard helicopter was already up and assessing damage and spraying oil spill dispersant (OSD) to neutralise oil slick before it spread further, he added.Pradeep B Mandal, Coast Guard commandant who is in charge of the cleanup operation, said Coast Guard was initially told only 200 litres of oil was spilled. Later they were told one tonne had spilled. Still later, Coast Guard was told more oil had spilled out.
Alleviating fear among seafoodlovers, the Coast Guard declared that fishermen are free to venture into the sea. Inspector general Bargotra who took media personnel out to the sea on the Coast Guard ship Varad for a survey on Friday said, “As you can see, the sea is as good as it was before the collision. There are only traces of oil in some selected parts where fishing may be avoided.“ Asserting that beach cleaning falls under the purview of the state administration, Bargotra said, “Our job is to coordinate mitigation measures with nodal agencies. We have taken up the work even if it not our responsibility. So many agencies like the Chennai port, marine institutes and NGOs have volunteered to help.“
Oil spill has occurred in nearly 72 km of the eastern coast from Ennore Port to Mahabalipuram.
Bargotra said, “Cleaning up the Ennore port area where the accident occurred will take at least 10 days.“