MUMBAI: The oil spilling out from MSC Chitra (seen on Sunday, at left) off Mumbai’s coast has started hitting the shores, making the ship a major environmental hazard for Mumbai and its surrounding coastal areas.
The Mumbai Port Trust has closed down its navigational channel for bigger ships as MSC Chitra tilted nearly 75 degrees and 250 of its 1,219 containers carrying hazardous chemicals fell into the sea. The Panamanian vessel had collided with St Kitts-flagged vessel Khalijia 3 km off the city’s coast on Saturday.
State environment minister Suresh Shetty described the situation as very serious. The Coast Guard, the Navy as also port officials have expressed inability to contain the spill as the ship is tilted. The oil has spread to a 2 km area around the ship and has already touched Awas village in Raigad. The slick was also seen near Uran and Elephanta. Chitra has 2,662 tonnes of fuel oil, 283.8 tonnes of diesel oil and 88,040 tons of lube oil.