A dredger anchored within the jurisdiction of New Mangalore Port Trust in the Arabian Sea sank on September 3.
It was abandoned by its crew on September 2 following flooding in its pump room.
It was on a contractual agreement with the New Mangalore Port Tust (NMPT) for dredging to ensure sufficient depth for ships approaching the port.
The Indian Coast Guard and NMPT officials had rescued 20 persons, including 13 crew members and seven others, from it on September 2 after the Coast Guard received a distress message from the dredger named Tridevi Prem from Mumbai. The master of the vessel had reported flooding in the pump room.
According to S.S. Dasila, Commander, Coast Guard, Karnataka, the seven others rescued were from a repair team.
Mr. Dasila said the master of the vessel had reported flooding in the pump room on August 31 itself. Later, it was reported to have been under control on the same day. However, from September 1 evening the master again began raising an alarm on flooding in the same compartment. Later, the company owning the dredger sent a repair team to it.
The Deputy Conservator, NMPT, himself was embarked on the vessel by a tug. When the Coast Guard received the distress message again on September 1 night, the Coast Guard diverted its ship ICGS Amartya for help, he said.
“On preliminary assessment from outside, the vessel appeared to be stable and no threat to life on board the vessel had been observed. However, the master repeatedly continued expressing his intention of abandoning the ship, with crew in lifeboat,” Mr. Dasila said.
Later, the Coast Guard and NMPT personnel rescued all 20 lives from it.
‘Navigation not hit’
New Mangalore Port Trust Chairman A.V.Ramana on Tuesday said the sinking of the dredger would not affect navigation of vessels.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Ramana said the place where the dredger sunk was not on the navigation route. He ruled out damage to the environment as the fuel in the dredger was low sulphur high speed diesel that evaporated in the atmosphere in case of an oil spill.
As an added precaution, the NMPT has placed primary and secondary booms to prevent spread of oil. A Coast Guard vessel has been deployed to keep vigil. A complaint has been filed with the Coastal Security Police and Mangaluru City Panambur police against Tridevi Prem owners for abandoning the dredger.