Eleven days after oil tanker Pratibha Cauvery got grounded at Foreshore Estate beach, the salvage team from Singapore put her back into Bay of Bengal waters on Sunday. “After three difficult days of constant restoration work, the ship has been salvaged - at 6.25 pm on Sunday,” said union shipping minister G. K. Vasan.
While two tugs were available, Mr Vasan said the salvors used the 133-bollard pull tug ‘Malviya 21’ and successfully restored the ship. “Pratibha Cauvery will now be kept in the outer anchorage of the Chennai Port Trust. The tug will also stay nearby, as the anchors in the ship need to be repaired,” he added.
“A case is pending in the Madras High Court regarding compensation. Keeping that in mind, the DG shipping will decide on the movement of the ship. As the seaworthiness certificate of the ship has also expired, we need to do full investigation to get the complete picture,” he further added.
The shipping minister, who supervised the salvage work closely for the last two days, told this newspaper that while the job of taking the ship fully into the sea has been successful, the six seafarers who lost their lives in the tragedy should not be forgotten. “The shipping ministry will help the families of the deceased get compensation from the ship owner,” he added.
Mr Vasan further said that the company Pratibha Shipping should play the main role now. “The rescued seafarers should also be taken care by the company. All agencies including the Indian Coast Guard are trying to help them by retrieving their baggage from the sea,” he added.
The crewmembers stationed in a city hotel said they were worried about their passports and certificates. “We have been given Photostat of an FIR copy to apply for passport, but we expect a bag containing all 31 passports and seafarers identities to be safe under the ship. We hope the divers could help us retrieve the bag,” said a seaman.