Containers from grounded vessel block channel to nation’s largest ports
A senior Mumbai Port official told the Hindu Business Line that it will take at least five or six days to clear nearly 250 containers sunk in the main navigation channel.
As on Monday, there were about 80 vessels waiting at sea for berths at the three port terminals at JN Port. These vessels are likely to be diverted to Pipavav, Mundra or Kandla ports in Gujarat, said a port official. “Maersk Line has stopped its bookings and I suspect the others will follow suit,” he said.
The delays and the expected pile up once the sea lane opens could cost India as much as $65 million in trade, he said.
It will be the first time ever that the ports will be shut for such a long time following an accident. There was no movement of ships in or out of the port on Monday.
Mumbai harbor has been closed for traffic after the collision of the container vessel MSC Chitra and the breakbulk vessel Khalizia-III on the weekend.
The MSC Chitra, which is owned by Mediterranean Shipping Co., was on its way to Mundra port in Gujarat from JNPT, when it was hit by the breakbulk carrier, which was coming to berth at Mumbai port.
Most of the 20-foot and 40-foot containers that fell off are lying underwater, making movement of large ships through the common channel for Mumbai and JNPT terminals difficult, the official said. The ship is not in the main channel, but is grounded a little away from it.
JNPT has three container terminals — two run by private companies and one run by the government-owned JN Port. The port handles nearly 65 percent of the country's container traffic.
A statement by the Directorate-General of Shipping, which is overseeing the salvage operations, said on Monday that the channel is closed during the night for any shipping traffic.
The vessel is dangerously tilted to port side, which has resulted in about 120 containers falling from its deck and heavy oil spillage from her fuel tanks, the statement said.
Salvage operations will take time as the sunken containers have to be located and marked before they are retrieved.
S.B. Agnihotri, director-general of shipping, said the collision might have taken place because of navigation or radio communication failure. "We have ordered a probe into the incident," he said.
There were more than 2,400 containers on board, of which 31 are loaded with toxic and inflammable materials. The cargo also consisted of textiles and pesticides.
Agnihotri said the vessel has about 1,200 metric tons of fuel oil in the ruptured tanks on the port side and remaining fuel in its starboard side, which is out of the water. A total of 2,700 metric tons of fuel oil and 300 metric tons of diesel oil are on board. Two to three metric tons of oil are leaking from the ship per hour, he said.
SMIT, Dutch salvage experts, have arranged for equipment that is likely to arrive from Singapore in the next two days. "Effective salvage operations can begin only by the end of the month when the weather subsides," the statement said.
The MSC Chitra was coming from Dubai was to pick up cargo from JN Port and Mundra, and was scheduled to sail to Africa next week.
2 comments:
Dear John,
What do you think about insuring shipments? My logistics company never offers insurance and I rarely ask for it as my shipments are small and the likelihood of something going awry is unlikely. Trading between East Asia and North America seems pretty safe, but perhaps I'm taking unwarranted risk. Would you say I should insure every shipment?
Callum
One insures against loss, if a loss is something you can stand, then do not bother. If you cannot stand loss, then it becomes a cost/benefits analysis. Check out the rates with your shippers or custombrokers.
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