Arihant
Ship Breakers finally succeeded in moving the grounded tug ‘MT Lotus’ from
Arossim beach on Monday.
The
salvage operation in order to tow the grounded pontoon ‘Bhageerath’ is likely
to start by the next couple of days with the help of MT Lotus and another tug
which has been summoned by Arihant Ship Breakers from Mumbai.
Arihant
Ship Breakers have utilised the services of two JCB machines and an excavator
for the purpose of excavating the sand surrounded by the grounded tug.
It
may be recalled that ‘MT Lotus’ tug was grounded at Arossim beach on April 24
after it was making an attempt to tow away the grounded pontoon ‘Bhageerath’.
Arossim
villagers and the traditional fishermen have protested against the grounded tug
and the pontoon, demanding immediate arrest of the Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim
Village Panchayat secretary, sarpanch and the hotel management who were
responsible for organising a wedding ceremony onboard the floating pontoon. The
operation on removing the grounded tug came following a meeting chaired by the
South Goa collector Dr Sachin Shinde who is also the chairman of South Goa
Disaster Management Authority. Dr Shinde inspected the site last Saturday and
was personally monitoring the situation. When contacted the Mormugao Port Trust
chairman I Jeyakumar said that Arihant Ship Breakers have started working on
removing the sand around the grounded pontoon.
“Once
all the sand and water is removed, the workers engaged in salvaging the pontoon
would seal the cracks developed on the wind tanks. The pontoon will be removed
with the help of two tugs” stated Jeyakumar. He however opined that the
operation on towing away the pontoon would commence in another couple of days.
Source: navhind times. 3 May 2016
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