No sign of oil leakage from listing dredger: NMPT

Tests carried out have revealed that there are no signs of any oil leakage from the site of the sunken dredger ‘Tridevi Prem’ as well as from the beached dredger ‘Bhagavati Prem’, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) Deputy Conservator Captain S R Pattanayak said.

He said at regular intervals water samples were collected from the site of the sunken dredger and the beached dredger and sent for the testing. After the beaching of Bhagavati Prem, the residual waste oil and garbage had been removed and disposed of as per the procedures through Port Reception Facility.

A team of Marine Experts and Deputy Conservators of two major ports, deputed to assess the beached dredger, had certified that the oil had been removed. The entire action of beaching the dredger was carried out as a preventive measure to safeguard the lives of the crew on the dredger and to prevent pollution of marine ecology.

As M/s Mercator Limited had failed to clear port dues and salvage the beached dredger, Bhagavati Prem, a notice was issued and the process of e-auctioning of the dredger was completed on June 30 through MSTC (Metal Scrap Trade Corporation) Limited. The port is empowered under the Indian Ports Act, 1908 and Major Ports Act 1963 to auction the dredger.