Authorities Struggle To Contain Oil Spill Three Days After Two Vessels Collide Off Chennai Coast

The ill-equipped pollution response teams of the Indian Coast Guard are grappling with the oil spill that spread southward beyond Marina beach, about 25km from the accident spot.

Coast Guard workers used 25 litre buckets to scoop out the oil sludge formed due to the spill from MT Dawn Kanchipuram.

BCCL

When they stopped work at dusk on Monday, only a fraction of the oil had been removed. Reinforcements are expected to arrive from Delhi on Tuesday to expedite the cleanup.

Two submersible pumps used by the Coast Guard to remove the oil sludge broke down. With no other equipment at hand, the workers used buckets to scoop out the oil on the shore. This slowed down the process.

BCCL

A long line of workers and local people passed around oil-filled buckets from the shore to 1,000-litre tankers waiting by the roadside.

The smell of fuel oil, which was heavily concentrated on the shore, wafted through the neighbourhood. Rocks on the coast were coated in sludge.Oil drifted on the sea surface at the rate of eight to 10 cm per second as strong northeasterly winds and southerly longshore currents pushed the heavy furnace oil near Pattinampakkam, more than 22km away, since the collision at 4am on Saturday.

BCCL

A Coast Guard official said they were finding it impossible to pump out the semi-solid substance and that a biodegradable oil dispersant would be poured over the oil sludge on Tuesday. "It will break it down into oil cakes that can be easily removed. It will be followed by a foam wash of the area," the official said.

As the Coast Guard lacks technical expertise in the cleanup work, private players have been invited to bid for the job. Darya Ship Management will finalise a private player to carry out the cleanup on Tuesday.

BCCL

Besides the complexity of the task, workers had to put up with angry fishermen who have not been able to put out to sea since Sunday . They have petitioned the Union environment ministry and central marine bodies demanding compensation for the loss of livelihood.

Darya Ship Management, the agency handling Dawn Kanchipuram, has been held responsible for damage to environment that includes threat to marine life on the Ennore coast and beyond.

BCCL

Other responsible agencies include the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the Kamarajar Port, Ennore. However, it was only the Coast Guard, assisted by volunteers from three agencies, including the Kattupalli port and Tree Foundation, that was involved in clearing the large pool of oil floating on the shore at Bharathy Nagar near Ennore.

BCCL

Ennore port officials said their responsibility lay in ensuring that the affected ship was berthed at the port.A Kamarajar Port official said, "Dawn Kanchipuam has been berthed at the port while the other ship, BW Maple, will be let off after completion of formalities."