Just six months after a collision between two ships resulted in a large oil spill in the Indian Ocean, a collision took place on Sunday evening between a Indian Navy ship and a foreign flagged merchant vessel in the Bombay harbour. However, no casualties or oil spill were reported after the incident, with a fire breaking out aboard the Naval ship appearing to be the only major repercussion as of now.
“The collision took place between INS Vindhyagiri and MV Nordlake at around 4.45 pm,” said Captain Manohar Nambiar, chief public relations officer, defence, Mumbai.
MV Nordlake, a foreign flagged container vessel, was on its way out of the Bombay harbour, while INS Vindhyagiri was approaching the Naval Dockyard.
“The incident occurred near the Sunk Rock lighthouse, just after the Prongs Reef lighthouse in Bombay harbour. There has been no injuries or oil spills, neither have any containers fallen into the sea from the laden MV Nordlake,” Capt. Nambiar added.
The merchant vessel hit the starboard (right) side of INS Vindhyagiri, a Nilgiri class frigate ship of the Indian Navy. At the time, there were over 150 people onboard and the Indian Navy on Sunday had a “Day At Sea” for the families of serving Naval officers.
Soon after the incident, a fire broke out on the ship, which, however, was doused immediately.
At the moment, INS Vindhyagiri has been berthed inside the Naval Dockyard and is being assessed for the extent of damage. “Repair work will be carried out only after the inquiry of the incident is complete. Right now, we cannot say who was at fault or what led to the collision,” Capt. Nambiar said.
Sources said that at the time of the incident, MV Nordlake was being steered by a pilot of the Jawarharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
This is not the first time that a collision has occurred in the Bombay harbour or inside the docks of Mumbai. On March 23, 2010, Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Vivek, which was undergoing repairs, sank after the MV Global Purity collided with it inside the Indira Docks.