BHUBANESWAR: The Central government has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the sinking of Vessel MV
Black Rose in the Bay of Bengal at Paradip in September 2009.
Shankar Choudhury, under secretary in the Union Ministry of Shipping, has written a letter in this regard to CBI director Alok Kumar Verma, according to sources.
The shipping ministry's move comes following a representation of two trustees of Paradip Port Trust, Pratap Mishra and Bhuban Mohan Jena, submitted to the PPT Board in July 2016, seeking inquiry by the federal investigative agency into the sinking of the vessel. The PPT had examined the representation and sent to the ministry in September 2016.
“The representations submitted by the trustees of PPT Board have been considered in the Ministry and it has been decided to refer the representations to CBI for further action on their part, the shipping ministry’s June 20 letter to CBI reads.
The Mangolian ship with a load of 23,843 tonnes of
iron ore and 947 metric tonnes of flammable furnace oil and 47 metric tonnes of diesel sank, but the owners of the ship didn't come forward to claim the assets. The vessel was allegedly flying what in maritime parlance is called a flag of convenience that is, flag of Mongolia, a small landlocked country, about 1000 km away from the sea, with no shipbuilding industry and no expert surveyors.
The PPT had to spend more than Rs 15 crore to remove oil from the sunken ship to pump out 924 .4 tonnes of furnace oils and 48 tonnes of diesel by assigning the task to a US-based company.
The marine police of Paradip had filed cases in September 2009 against the owner, manager, charter of the sunken ship on the charges of furnishing forged and fabricated insurance papers and other documents to anchor the Mongolian ship in the port.