Tow away the scrap ship at the earliest: Activists

MUMBAI: Discarded merchant vessel MV Wisdom remained grounded off Juhu beach for the third consecutive day as the owners of the ship were still in process of making arrangements for tug equipment to tow away the vessel.

An official from the Directorate General of Shipping said, "We are in touch with the owners of the ship, who are making an assessment to tow MV Wisdom to Alang shipbreaking yard in Gujarat, where it was originally headed."

The 175-m-long cargo ship, which was being towed by MV Seabulk Plover, ran aground off Juhu Chowpatty on June 11 after the tow cable snapped 12 nautical miles west of Mumbai due to the inclement weather. The discarded ship, which was on its way from Colombo to Alang, caused panic for at one point; it appeared that there was a threat of it hitting the pillars of the Bandra-Worli sea link.

The authorities have claimed that there was no threat of an oil spill as the vessel was not carrying fuel.

Meanwhile, activists have been campaigning for the vessel to be towed away at the earliest. Hansel D'Souza, an activist from Juhu said, "The ship should be towed away as soon as possible. We do not want a situation to arise where the authorities will be left with no choice but to break the ship here."

The owners of the beached vessel, MV Wisdom, are still in process of making arrangements for tug equipment to tow away the vessel

Source: The Times of India. By Manthan K Mehta. Tuesday, 14 June 2011

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Tow-away-ship-at-the-earliest-Activists/articleshow/8844757.cms