Technical failure in ballast management system led to failure of sunk ship: Shipping regulator
KOCHI : Dismissing the sabotage theory behind the capsize of container vessel MSC Elsa 3, the Director General (DG) of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan on Wednesday said the ship sank due to the failure of its ballast management system, which ensures the vessel’s stability.
The containers that fell off the ship when it sank off Kochi coast on Sunday and were floating in the Arabian Sea would be retrieved in 48 hours, Jagannathan said, adding that environmental damage was minimal.
“The oil spill is limited and the Coast Guard is cleaning it. The oil in the ship bunker will be removed by July 3,” he said.
“Our primary inference is that the vessel sank due to mechanical failure of the ballast management system. Safety and environmental requirements of the ships are governed by norms set by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and this vessel complied with international norms.
We have no evidence of other reasons. Failure of the ballast system may be due to lack of operational understanding. When the vessel listed to 26 degrees, there was a complete blackout due to failure of internal power generation. This virtually incapacitated all operations of the ship,” said chief surveyor of Union government Ajith Sukumaran.
About the cargo, Jagannathan said there were 13 containers carrying hazardous cargo of which 12 had calcium carbide, while one had rubber chemical antioxidants.
Vessel will be recovered : DG Shipping
“Five containers carrying calcium carbide were on the deck and might have landed on the sea floor. The other seven containers are in the cargo hold and are safe. The calcium carbide is stored in 200-litre drums inside the containers and chances of it mixing with sea water are sparse. There are some containers having iron and ethylene polymers which are plastic nodules,” he said, adding that all sunken containers as well as the ship will be recovered.
Jagannathan said around 100 containers floated in the sea of which 50 beached in coastal areas of three southern districts. “Most of these containers are empty while some had waste cotton and plastic nodules. A 108-member team from T&T Salvage, a US firm engaged by the shipping company (MSC) is engaged in coastal cleaning,” he said.
The priority, he said, is to retrieve the floating containers and clean the coastline which will be completed in 48 hours. “After that, the salvage team will start removing oil from the ship’s bunkers. Subsequently, the vessel will be lifted. The vessel will not be abandoned and all sunken containers will be removed. There is an international convention and the owner is required to remove the wreck,” said Jagannathan.
“The salvage team has mobilised two salvage masters, two project managers, two chemists, a six member diving team, a three member site scanner team and oil spill response team at the site of ship capsize,” said Union government’s nautical officer Captain Abdul Kalam Azad.
“A team comprising naval architects, salvage engineers and oil spill specialists have reached Kochi to address any oil spill risk. The salvage team has brought high range drones for surveillance of coastal area. High precision multi-beam side scanner has been brought for underwater scanning. A specialised oil spill response equipment and fuel recovery equipment have also been mobilised,” Azad said.
Jagannathan said removal of plastic nodules that have spread on the sea surface is one concern as it is time consuming. “There is a concern the oil spill may enter the backwaters through the river-sea interface. This is being addressed by the disaster management authority and Coast Guard,” he said.
