CHENNAI: The Directorate General of Shipping is likely to let the detained vessels – Isle of Man flagship B W Maple and Indian Flagship vessel M T Dawn Kanchipuram – to sail out of the Chennai Coast once claims are settled, according to Amitabh Kumar, additional director general of Shipping.
“Once the claims are settled, the vessels will be allowed to sail,” he said.
Till now, a total of three to four claims have been received. The focus is now on to settle the claims as well as complete the inquiry as soon as possible, he said.
Kumar said that the state government is tying up with the fishing community for filling up the prescribed claims certificate which once filled would be reviewed before settling the claims.
More than one month has passed since oil spilled into the sea after the two vessels collided.
The inquiry by Directorate General of Shipping has yet to ascertain how much oil leaked.
Investigating officials told Express that the problem is to ascertain the quantity of oily water mixture present in one of the tanks of MT Dawn Kancheepuram.
“This could be done by transferring the oil-water mixture to a separate tank. The arrangements have been made and the process is on,” said the sources.
Once a final re-verification is carried out then a firm conclusion on how much oil has really leaked could be made.
Meanwhile, sources in state environment and forest department said that the finance department is vetting the proposal for formation of a 10-member committee to study the impact of oil along the coast of Chennai.
“The officials are from IIT Madras, Central Pollution Control Board, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and other agencies are part of the committee,” sources said.
To a query on oil patches found in Cuddalore, Pondicherry and other parts of the coast being linked to the oil spilled from M T Dawn Kancheepuram, an official source said that National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) is studying it.