MV Rak crew booked under Environment protection act

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The city police, which registered an FIR under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against owner and crew members of the sunken vessel MV Rak have now booked them under the Environment (Protection) Act and Water (Prevention And Control Of Pollution) Act.

The FIR under IPC section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) was registered against the owner, captain and crewmembers on Friday, a day after Rak had sunk 20 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast.

The next day, the ship's captain, Arkan Abdul Khalil Yunus (36), a Jordanian, and chief engineer Ioneseu Ion (54), a Romanian, were arrested and later released on bail.

"As the Rak started spilling oil, causing water pollution and environmental problems, today, we added relevant sections of Environment (Protection) Act and Water (Prevention And Control Of Pollution) Act as well against them," said Bharat Bhoite, Inspector at Yellow Gate police station.

The cargo laden vessel, 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.

They were rescued by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard personnel before the vessel sank on Thursday. Stating that about 80 to 100 tonnes of oil had leaked from the vessel into the Arabian sea, the Coast Guard yesterday had said the city was unlikely to be affected from the spill.