MV Rak’s captain, chief engineer arrested

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Two days after a coal-laden cargo vessel sank off the city coast, police on Saturday arrested the captain and chief engineer of the ill-fated ship for ‘carelessness’ and endangering lives of others.

"The sunken ship MV Rak's captain, Arkan Abdul Khalil Yunus (36), a Jordanian, and chief engineer Ioneseu Ion (54), a Romanian, were arrested under the IPC Section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others)," said Bharat Bhoite, Inspector at Yellow Gate police station.

On Friday, the police had registered an FIR against the owner, captain and the crewmembers of the vessel.

"The carelessness of the captain, who is the in-charge of the ship, and the chief engineer, who should have taken care of technical aspects of vessel, has caused the ship to go down the water," said Bhoite.

The police did not comment when asked if more arrests were likely, but maintained they would continue to take appropriate actions as the probe progressed. 'MV Rak', which was on its way from Indonesia's Tutung to Dahej in Gujarat with 60,000 tonnes of coal, had a 30-member crew of Indonesian, Jordanian and Romanian nationalities, who were rescued by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard personnel before it sank on Thursday.

Coast Guard sources said they could see oil layers at the place in the sea where the 225 metre-long vessel, which contained about 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel, sank but described the spill as ‘very negligible’ and not capable of causing ecological problems.

The captain and chief engineer of MV Rak were later produced before a local court which granted them bail.

"Such oil layers are found whenever any ship sinks. It is very negligible and will not create any major environmental problems," a Coast Guard official stated.

"Some drums and light materials are floating in the sea and may cause problems to ships passing through the navigational channel. Mariners have been alerted about this," said the official.