Ships collide at Mumbai harbour, traffic suspended

PTI
Bellevision Media Network

Mumbai, 08 August 2010:  Traffic at the Mumbai harbour was suspended on Saturday following a collision between two merchant ships off the coast here that resulted in an oil spill. After the collision, some containers from one of the vessels fell into the sea, raising fears of other ships crashing into them.

 

"Traffic at the Mumbai harbour was suspended tonight as a precautionary measure as the 10 to 15 containers of vessel Chitra fell into the sea after the collision," a senior Indian Coastguard official said. "The ships coming towards Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) might hit the containers in the water and may cause problem for the inbound ships, because of which we suspended the traffic", he said.

 

 

It appears that about 10 to 15 tonnes of diesel of Chitra might have spilled into the seawaters due to the collision, the officer said. MSC Chitra, the outbound cargo vessel from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), collided with MV Khalijia-III five nautical miles from the shores at 9:50 am today when the latter was sailing towards the MPT, off Mumbai harbour, to take a berth. No casualties were reported following the collision and 33 crewmembers were rescued.