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BW Maple cleared to sail

In a controversial move, the Directorate General of Shipping and Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), Chennai, has issued a no-objection certificate to the "BW Maple", which had collided with the "Dawn Kancheepuram" off the Ennore coast on Jan 28 leading to an oil spill, though the investigation into the incident was still underway. According to the documents accessed by the Express, insurers of the "BW Maple" have offered to submit bank guarantee to allow the ship to leave port. On Sep 14 14, Captain Anish Joseph, Nautical Surveyor-cum-DDG (Technical) of DG Shipping wrote to the Principal Officer of MMD, Chennai, expressing the Directorate’s no objection to the sailing of the "BW Maple" from the Kamarajar Port. On Sep 15 15, Ravikumar Moka, Ship Surveyor-cum-DDG (Technical) of MMD, Chennai, also cleared the ship and wrote to Kamarajar Port that the department has no objection. Copies of the NOCs were sent to the chief secretary, Director of Fisheries, Customs and other departmental heads concerned. Full report: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/sep/21/guilty-vessel-bw-maple-gets-nod-to-sail-far-away-1660418.html

Vessel captain was warned about possible collision

For the first time since two ships collided at Ennore, leading to the spillage and spread of several tonnes of oil on the Chennai coast, M.A. Bhaskarachar, Chairman of Kamarajar Port Ltd, has gone on record saying the captain of m.v. MT BW Maple was warned about the possibility of a collision with m.v. MT Dawn Kanchipuram. Recalling the events on the morning of January 28, he said the pilot of Maple, which was leaving the port, disembarked only after consultations with the captain of the ship. “After the Maple went out of our boundary — the breakwater — there is a system where they [pilot] discuss with the captain whether they need assistance or not. The captain said in this instance he was a regular visitor. Since he said he was okay, the pilot took it to the breakwater, got down and came to the pilot’s station and was watching. In fact, he sent a message that ‘you are going to collide, be careful’,” Mr. Bhaskarachar said. Dawn Kanchipuram, which was coming in to the port, had a pilot on board at the time of the accident. An inquiry was on and details of the quantum of the oil spilled or in the ship at the time of the accident are not yet clear. Malini V. Shankar, Director General of Shipping, said at a press conference on Monday that Dawn Kanchipuram had a total cargo of 26,806 metric tonnes of motor spirit and 6,008 tonnes of high speed diesel, which were safely discharged to shore tanks. “This is a huge ship, it has several tanks. Each tank has to be inspected one by one...and the oil has to be transferred from one tank to another to see what is the leakage. This process is going on, it will take a few days,” she said. Ms. Shankar boarded the vessel to personally assess the situation and to direct the operations. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/Vessel-captain-was-warned-about-possible-collision-port-chief/article17206383.ece

Oil spill: Human error caused collision, says TN Minister

CHENNAI: Describing the recent collision of two ships off Chennai coast as an unfortunate incident caused by "human error", State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar today said all efforts are being made to remove the slick and maintained that the oil spill from the damaged vessel has been arrested. "It is an unfortunate incident caused by human error. The government is making all efforts to remove the oil slick from the sea," Jayakumar told reporters here. The collision took place on January 28 at 4 AM when M T BW Maple, with a flag of 'Isle of Man', was leaving after emptying Liquefied Petroleum Gas, and M T Dawn Kanchipuram loaded with petroleum oil lubricant (POL) was on its way to berth at the Kamarajar Port, formerly Ennore port. Responding to a query on oil leak from the damaged vessel (Dawn Kanchipuram), Jayakumar said, "the leakage from the ship has been totally arrested. Both the vessels (cargo ships) are right now under the custody of Kamarajar Port Ltd". On people's apprehensions about consuming fish caught by fishermen, Jayakumar reiterated his stand that it was safe to consume as fishermen normally fish in deep sea than in shallow waters. "I have been saying this many times. Generally, fishermen undertake deep sea fishing. It is not true that fish are caught from shallow waters," he said. He warned that action would be taken against those spreading rumours on social media like Whatsapp that it was not safe to consume fish. "We have been testing the fish. We also have a team from Tamil Nadu Fisheries University which has confirmed that fish is safe to be consumed," he said. http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2017/feb/06/oil-spill-human-error-caused-collision-says-tn-minister-1567581.html