Grounded vessel in Chilika lake could spill oil and destroy its marine life
28 August 2019
A
Malaysian cargo ship Jin Hwa 32 is being monitored by the Indian Coast
Guard in Odisha’s Chilika lake due to fears of there being an oil spill.
The
vessel ran aground on August 7 at Khirisahi within the lake, while
traveling from Malaysia to Bangladesh. It washed ashore after
being damaged by high winds and rough seas.
All 22 crew members were rescued by the Coast Guard, said the additional district magistrate of Puri, Binay Kumar Dash.
However,
the real danger comes from the ship’s cargo. The vessel has
around 30,000 litres of diesel, 1,000 litres of lubricant oil and 200
litres of hydraulic oil.
Although there is no oil spill at the
moment, there is a high risk of a spill in the event of any hull
damage, which could destroy marine life in Chilika.
A constant vigil is being kept over the vessel even as the Coast Guard has begun efforts to pump out all the oil from it.
Chilika,
Asia’s largest lagoon, is 64 kilometres (km) long in the north-south
direction and 13.5 km wide in the east-west direction.
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