Vessel without insurance; ops to cost around ` 24 cr
the goan I network
PANAJI
Dutch Salvage company Marne Masters was on Wednesday issued the ‘work order’ by the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to salvage the 2,500 tonne naphta-laden tanker Nu-Shi Nalini which was grounded last month off Marivel beach near Raj Bhavan in Dona Paula.
However, questions persist over who will foot the nearly 3.4 million US dollars (approximately Rs 24 crore) as the ill-fated tanker does not have valid insurance raising the spectre of a possible encore of the infamous saga Goa experienced nearly two decades ago when River Princess was grounded off Sinquerim in the year 2000.
River Princess was finally partly cut and removed over a decade later after two contractors failed in the attempt to refloat and tow it away. Part of the ship is still embedded off the Sinquerim beach.
MPT sources said, the contract involves the Dutch company conducting the salvage operation over 30 days with two options open: a) To refloat the 16,700 dwt tanker at the site it is grounded and tow it to offload the naphta cargo berthed at the Mormugao port and b) To discharge the naphta at the site it is grounded and then tow it away to safer grounds.
Technical parameters including the pricing of the contract were fixed by the Director General (Shipping), the MPT official who did not want to be identified, said.
A top State government officer meanwhile told The Goan that the Dutch company has begun flying in experts and manpower to Goa for the salvage operation. But there is no clarity on who will bear the whopping Rs 24-odd crores the whole operation will cost.
According to the ship’s insurance documents, Norwegian insurance company Hydar AS, had insured the ship only for its towing operation from Kochi, where it was stranded after the engine fire accident, to the Mormugao port.
Industry sources said, the original P&I insurance of the ship went invalid after she was abandoned by the skipper and the crew rendering it not seaworthy. And, with no valid insurance, the cost of the salvage will either have to be borne by the ship owner Arya Shipping or the State/Central governments.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, meanwhile, is on record that there will be no financial cost to the State on account of the tanker’s grounding.
“The ship’s owner will have to bear the cost. If he fails, then MPT will bear the cost,” Sawant had recently told the media at a news conference. But a top State government official said it is likely that DG (Shipping) will pay up for the salvage.
Meanwhile, a significant portion of the nearly 2,500 metric tonnes of naphtha is compromised after the engine room fire incident and is unlikely to fetch much value. But the naphta in some of the compartments of the storage tanks is intact and its sale could defray some of the salvage costs, the official added.
