The Hindu Business Line : Bulk carrier sinks off Paradip port; crew rescued

The sunken ship will not obstruct the navigable channel of the port but the probable marine pollution that might be caused by the discharge of fuel oil in the vessel was being examined.

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Sept.10 A 37,657-dwt bulk carrier, M V Black Rose flying the Mongolian flag sank off Paradip port Wednesday evening. There were 27 crew members on board (seven Ukrainians, three Russians and 17 Bangladeshis) and 26 of them have been rescued by the Coast Guard and the port’s own rescue team.

Mr Oleksander Ilyushchenko, 62, Chief Engineer of the vessel, however, is missing. The vessel had loaded 23,847 tonnes of iron ore at the port for China and was at anchorage.

The problem started around six in the evening when the vessel reported that it had begun to list. The message was sent from the port that the ship proceed to shore immediately. But it barely covered two km or so and was still about about six km from the port’s south breakwater when it sank, according to Mr Biplav Kumar, Deputy Chairman of Paradip Port Trust. The sunken ship would not obstruct the navigable channel of the port but the probable marine pollution that might be caused by the discharge of fuel oil in the vessel was being examined, Mr Kumar said.

Inquiry committee

The shippers who were exporting the iron ore to China in the ill-fated vessel are A B Minerals of Kolkata and Rektor Mines of Orissa. “The vessel was planning to load more on a third shipper’s account but we did not allow more than two shippers to load in one vessel at a time and so it sailed out of the harbour and was waiting at the anchorage, probably for the next berthing turn to come,” Mr Kumar said.

PPT, as the Deputy Chairman informed, had already constituted an inquiry committee under its Deputy Conservator. “We’ve also informed the Shipping Ministry, Chairman of National Shipping Board and the Director General of Shipping, which is the competent authority for further course of action,” he said. The shippers had also been informed while the ship’s agent, Seatrans, would take care of the crew, he added.

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