The oil spilling out from MSC Chitra has started hitting the shores and the ship has become a major environmental hazard for Mumbai and its surrounding coastal areas. The Mumbai Port Trust has closed down its navigational channel for bigger ships as MSC Chitra tilted nearly 75 degrees and 250 of its 1,219 containers carrying hazardous cargo fell into the sea. The Panamanian vessel collided with St Kittsflagged vessel Khalijia 3 off Mumbai’s coast on Saturday, following which the Chitra started tilting. On instructions from state environment minister Suresh Shetty, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board registered an offence against the staff and owners of both the ships under the Enviromental Protection Act. Shetty said the situation was very serious and immediatemeasures were necessary to tackle the spill. The state government’s disaster management committee is meeting on Monday on the issue. The Coast Guard also issued an advisory to fishermen asking them to stop fishing. Coast Guard’s commandant S S Dasila and Navy vice-admiral Pradeep Chauhan described the oil spill as significant. Mumbai Port Trust chairperson Rahul Asthana said on Sunday said the drifting containers will be towed away and shifted to JNPT soon. Coast Guard officials said Chitra had come from Jebel Ali port to JNPT and left at 8.30 am to head for Mundra in Gujarat. They said said much of the cargo —which included hazardous chemicals like phosphatic peesticides and sodium hydroxide—was meant for Prakash Chemicals in Gujarat, adding some of it was infllamable. He added the port trust will decide on Monday whether to open the channel for bigger ships or not. Chitra had 37 people on board, including three women and two children. The 35 Indians have been put up in a south Mumbai hotel. But the ship’s agent Satish Durne said the two Pakistanis on the crew were not allowed to come on shore due to immigration problems. “On Monday, the Pakistanis will contact their embassies and will be allowed to sign off and leave India. They are still on the barge meant for rescue,’’ said Durne. The ship’s captain Ranjit Martin Minguelinho was not available for comment. Durne said a team of experts had been flown in from Rotterdam alongwith equipment, but declined to answer what went wrong and how much oil had spilled into the sea.
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