Oil leakage from sunken ship on the decline: DGS

The Directorate of Shipping (DGS) today said the rate at which oil is leaking from the sunken ship M V Rak has come down to a third from its peak.

"The rate of flow has reduced to 8 to 10 tons per day as compared to 35 to 40 tons per day earlier," the DGS said in a statement after a review meeting.

Citing observations of Coast Guard officials, it said the extent of continuous trail of oil leak has also come down to 5 to 8 nautical miles against 12 nautical miles earlier.

Referring to the statement of Maharashtra''s Environment Department yesterday that oil deposits were found on the Alibag beach, the DGC said according to the Coast Guard, it was an "usual phenomena during the monsoon months."

The statement said the Coast Guard also found deposits of tar balls at the mouth of an estuary close to Alibag while 3 or 4 "silvery patches" were noticed close to Dadar and Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai.

Officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said no fresh oil deposits have been noticed on the Juhu, Versova beaches, it said.
Three Coast Guard vessels including oil pollution response vessel Samudra Prahari continue to be at the spot treating effects of the spill while Dornier aircraft were deployed for aerial surveillance.

Other precautions like sending radio messages to mariners about the area where the ship had sunk, asking the protection and indemnity (P&I) club to mark the area with a buoy were being taken, the statement said.

"The local P&I correspondent is in consultation with the expert oil pollution response companies to stop the flow of the oil from the ship. One of the salvage company is in advance stage of negotiations with the P&I club in Romania," it said, adding that another review meeting will be held tomorrow.