Unmanned, re-floated, ship stranded off Goa coast gets anchored at state's Mormugao Port Trust

Panaji, December 12: The naphtha-laden ship than ran aground off the Raj Bhavan coast in Goa, got towed to the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) on Thursday, after being re-floated.

 

"The unmanned ship, which was anchored at the MPT, drifted on October 24 and ran aground after hitting rocks about 2.5 nautical miles off the Goa coast. It was successfully refloated on Wednesday night", state Ports Minister Michael Lobo said.

 

 

"The vessel was then towed to the MPT in the wee hours of Thursday", a port trust official added. A Netherland-based company was earlier given the contract to salvage the stranded vessel 'Nu-Shi Nalini' and empty it.

 

Earlier in the month of November, CM Sawant had said that action would be initiated against those responsible for the running aground of the ship only after the vessel is salvaged and danger posed due to its presence is over. The initial attempts to salvage the unmanned tanker, Nu Shi Nalini, had failed, prompting the state government to involve private players do salvage it. 

 

The Pramod Sawant-led Goa government earlier drew flak for failure to salvage the ship, as it posed a threat to the environment and marine life along the state's coast. The Director-General of Shipping had formed a five- member committee to oversee off-loading of naphtha from the vessel and its salvage operation.