Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), India’s largest port, was closed (at the time of publishing) following a collision between a cargo vessel and a container ship.
The vessels involved, according to officials, were the Panamanian flagged MSC Chitra and cargo ship Khalijia III. The vessels collided approx 8km off the Mumbai shore on Saturday morning, spilling between 200 and 400 containers and leaking oil into the sea.
At time of publishing there was no word on when the port would reopen which will likely cause chaos due to congestion problems prior to the incident. Mumbai port was also closed but was reopened for smaller ships shortly after the incident.
The oil leak was from the MSC Chitra but the exact location of the leak was proving difficult to determine due the vessel listing at a 75 degree angle. Six Indian coastguard ships were trying to contain the leak.
Suresh Shetty, India’s State Environmental Minister, instructed the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to register an offense against the owners and staff of both vessels involved and a case has been registered under the Environmental Protection Act due to the containers, currently floating off the Mumbai coast, are carrying hazardous chemicals.
It has been suggested by the MbPT – Mumbai Port Trust – that the accident may have been caused due to the lack of pilot ships and the vessels operating on different radio frequencies.
It is understood that thirty five crew members were rescued from the MSC Chitra following the incident.