ONGC ships stray off restricted zones

Authorities at the oil major, reportedly a prime target of Pakistan-based terror outfits, concerned about security after sub-contracted vessels sever radio contact to move out of designated areas

Officials have been concerned about security at the country's largest oil producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) offshore installations, after reports that some of its contracted vessels move out of the designated field after severing radio contact, and illegally siphon off diesel to the mafia. The development assumes significance in light of the fact that ONGC is a top target on the list of terror outfits with their bases in Pakistan. An attack on the unit could mean crippling the country's oil production and losses of several thousand crores to the state exchequer. While the port protection agencies said they will investigate the matter, ONGC officials remained unavailable for comment.


Steering off course: Vessels dropping off the radar is actually the
handiwork of the oil mafia, which bribes or threatens the crew to sneak
out of designated zones so they can steal the ONGC diesel. File pic

Ships slink out
In a letter to one of ONGC's sub-contractors (copy with MiD DAY), the oil major's manager of logistics, Vijay Jalai, said that, for a second time, the contracted company's boat had moved out of its lawful field without informing the radio control. He asks the company authorities to probe the breach. "The crew boat, MV Purna, moved out of its field on March 5 between 2155 hours and 2321 hours, without any intimation to SLQ radio room control," his letter states.

The SLQ controls and monitors movements of ships in the area. The letter adds that on an earlier occasion as well the vessel had moved out of the designated oil field on December 16, 2010 between noon and 2 pm. The oil authorities are apprehensive as this is the nth time a vessel did not respond to radio calls after straying off course.u00a0 In an earlier letter dated December 29, 2010 (copy with MiD DAY) to the same company, ONGC's Chief Engineer R Raghunath voices similar concern over vessels Terna and Purna moving out of the area by switching off their radio systems and not responding to calls by the SLQ room. The letter read, "In the prevailing safety scenario, the abnormal behaviour of crew boats moving out of field and not responding to radio calls has been viewed seriously from the safety point of view."

It further warns the operator, "In the event of recurrence, (his) office will be forced to initiate a suitable action as per contractual provisions." There have been other unreported instances, sources said. Insiders informed that the vessels' momentary dropping off the radar is actually the handiwork of the oil mafia, which bribes or threatens the crew to sneak out of designated zones so they can steal the ONGC diesel. An insider said that diesel worth several hundred crores is being stolen from these offshore vessels over the past two years with the connivance of crew members.

"The mafia rules the seas around Bombay High after nightfall. Some crew members who have been compromised deliberately sail out of the field to sell huge quantities of diesel to these criminal elements, who then sell the consignments in the open market," a police source informed, adding, "They wither do it for money or out of fear." He continued, "Honest seamen are drugged before the tainted crew members take control of the ship. They switch off the radio sets so that their position cannot be traced by the management, while they drain off the diesel to the mafia."

The mysterious death of radio officer Debashish Dey is a glaring case in point. His body went missing from Shivam, a boat used to transport technical crew from one platform to the other, at Bombay High, about 60 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast in mid-February this year. The reason being that he refused to play along with the oil mafia, insiders said.

Officials say
The Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and the Mumbai police are responsible for guarding Bombay High and its adjoining oilfields up to 100 nautical miles off the city's coast. Mumbai police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajkumar Vathkar, said patrolling of the seas is on. Port Zone DCP Quaiser Khalid said that the ONGC area is patrolled by the Navy. "We will check the information and look into the matter," added Khalid. The ONGC spokesperson has not yet responded to an e-mail sent by this paper on Thursday about the unlawful movement of the boats at Bombay High

Diesel Drain
Given the anomalous behaviour of the vessels, observers said it was not surprising that a 2009 CAG report had pointed to an estimated loss of more than Rs 4,000 crore incurred by ONGC because of mismanagement alone.
A team of government auditors stumbled upon the facts during inspections of various sections of the PSU in the past two years. Inspection reports with appropriate recommendations have been forwarded to various ONGC department heads for action.