KOCHI: The Coast Guard has released a slew of photographs of Nu-Shi Nalini, which is anchored at 12.2 nautical miles off Kochi coast with 2,800 mt of highly combustible naphtha, following an explosion in its engine room in June.
This is the first time that the Coast Guard is releasing the photos of the ship, since the explosion. A press release by the Coast Guard said the owners of the ship have arranged Tug Shiva as the Guard Ship, and there are no sign of pollution or fire till date.
Meanwhile, LOTS Shipping, the salvor appointed by the owners, is hopeful to remove the naphtha and move the ship to safety at the earliest. “A team of experts, including a salvage master from the Netherlands, has gone to the outer sea to assess the situation on Friday. Our task is to remove and clean up the vessel safely. We will know the position once the team returns,” an officer said.
Coast Guard said the owner of the vessel intimated that there was no plan to shift/tow the vessel from Kochi to Colombo, and the salvage operations is being planned to be carried out at Kochi.
Last month, a meeting under the chairmanship of P H Kurien, additional chief secretary (revenue, environment and disaster management), and attended by the Coast Guard, Navy, the District Collector and Cochin Port Trust, among others, decided the government of Kerala will take up the issue with the DG Shipping for early resolution of the issue.