CHENNAI: Coast guard officials at the Haldia station, swung into action to prevent an oil spill after two container vessels collided off Hooghly Point, south of Diamond Harbour, Kolkata on Tuesday.
Immediately after the collision between the two ships, MV Tiger Spring, registered in Gibraltar, and MV Green Valley, registered in Bahamas, was reported, the Indian Coast Guard swung into action.
Two hovercraft from Haldia equipped with damage control equipment and a CG Dornier aircraft took off from Kolkata to the accident site in pollution response mode for assessing the situation and rendering assistance.
According to a release from the Coast Guard’s Eastern region headquarters here in Chennai, both the vessels were container carriers and all the crew were reported to be safe.
The MV Tiger Spring had sustained damage on mid ship and the MV Green Valley was damaged on the bows, the release added.
The MV Green Valley has been moved under own power to anchorage off Diamond Harbour while the MV Tiger Spring is on an even keel and grounded off Hooghly point.
The Kolkata Port Trust officials and Central Industrial Security Force personnel were reportedly on board the MV Tiger Spring.
Though Coast Guard hovercraft have reported no major oil spill, the ICG’s Vajra has been moved from Visakhapatnam equipped with pollution response equipment to provide necessary assistance.
The Coast Guard personnel have been deputed at the site and CG ship, Ramadevi, based at Haldia has been deployed to monitor the situation.