Police say no security breach; Coast Guard says boat was brought for scrapping
The stuck ship
A small ship that had run aground on the rocks at the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial site in the sea off Mumbai three days back, had stirred some panic in the minds of citizens. Some fishermen had spotted the vessel off the Malabar Hill shore and one of them even saw a person on board. But the police have now said that there is no security breach, while the Coast Guard has said that the ship was being brought from the Marshall Islands for scrapping.
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Sources have told midday that the barge ‘True Grit’ had come from Marshall Islands for scrapping but it got stuck in the rocky bed due to the rough weather conditions on September 14. There is no one onboard it. A member of the group Marine Life of Mumbai (MLoM), Shaunak Modi had tweeted, “A fisher shared this photo of a ship that’s run aground close to a reef just off Malabar Hill. It’s been there since a few days and even visible from Marine Drive, but not a word about it from anyone. That’s how invisible the sea is to this city. (SIC)”
The Coast Guard said the barge got separated from the tugboat and got stuck on the rocks
Some fishermen who went for fishing saw the small ship three days back. Marine enthusiast Pradip Patade said, “Around two to three days back, one of my contacts among the fisherfolk informed me that a small ship was stuck between two rocks in the sea near Malabar Hill. Since then I have been trying to get in touch with the Coast Guard but I have not been able to contact them. Today I even called the BMC Disaster Management control room number and informed them, but they told me that this does not come in their jurisdiction. I think the concerned authorities should look into the same.”
Early this month a small barge was spotted in the sea at Vasai, raising suspicions. However, it was traced to its owner who had not reported that it had snapped from its mooring. His employee who was seen on board and the owner were later questioned.
Also read: Maharashtra boat accident: 7 more bodies recovered, toll rises to 10; 1 person still missing
Official speak
An official from Malabar Hill police station said, “Due to some technical issue the ship got stuck between the rocks off Malabar hill sea shore. Three days back we had information of the ship and the owner of the ship has been traced and there is nothing to worry about. Soon it will be moved away from the location and there is nothing to panic about.”
“The name of the ship which is stuck there in the sea, after it developed some technical glitch, for past three days is True Grit. There is no security breach,” said Mumbai police PRO S Chaitanya.
However, a Coast Guard official gave more details. Coast Guard PRO, Commandant RK Singh said, “The barge True Grit was being towed by tugboat Saab. But the tug boat parted from it due to the rough weather and the barge got grounded around 3.2 nautical miles from the coast. Thereafter the local agent is trying to pull it out and give it to a recycler. It was supposed to be handed over to a recycler in Mumbai but it got grounded.”
“A local agent is arranging some tugs to pull it out. Since the barge was coming for scrapping, no one is onboard. It’s an unmanned boat,” commandant Singh told mid-day.
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