Oil leak reported from sunken vessel MV Rak: Officials

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An oil leak was today reported from the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Rak which sank off the city coast earlier this week due to ingress of water in the cargo hull, officials said.

"Since last night, oil has been observed leaking from the sunken vessel Rak Carrier at an approximate rate of 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hour. The oil has spread about 7 nautical miles around the vessel," a Defence press release said.

A Coastguard ship, Samudra Prahari, which was on patrol, responded and used oil dispersnat to neutralise the spilled oil.
"Operations Paryavaran Suraksha - 2/2011 has been launched by Coast Guard. Another vessel ICGS Sankalp has also been pressed for augmenting the oil spill response," the release added.

While coastal authorities have been advised to maintain strict vigil and prepare for contingency, the state authorities have been advised to direct fishermen to refrain from fishing in the vicinity of the affected area.

M V 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 August 4.

Also, on Saturday, police arrested the ship's captain and chief engineer 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.

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