A merchant vessel with 24 people onboard that developed a technical snag due to an oil pump failure off the Kerala coast has been assisted by the Kerala Maritime Board to continue its sail after a delay of five days. The ship was over 14 nautical miles away from the coast.
Bitumen Tanker YLW sailing under the flag of Cook Islands, on its way from Haldia port in Kolkata to Sharjah, developed a technical snag after the failure of the oil pump, forcing the vessel crew to send out a request seeking assistance from authorities here. Though a spare pump was brought to Vizhinjam by land from Gujarat, the Thiruvananthapuram-based shipping agency Dowins Resources which approached the port authorities to ferry the pump, couldn’t take the pump to the ship as the survey process of Dhwani Tug at the Vizhinjam port under the Maritime Board was not completed.
Later, the agency approached the Adani Port authorities, who in turn demanded three times the amount to ship the oil pump worth ₹2 lakh, said officials. The agency then once again approached the Maritime Board officials, and realising the gravity of the situation, the port authorities completed the survey of Dhwani tug on a wartime basis and came forward to deliver the pump to the ship.
By Monday evening, the port and customs procedures were completed, and the pump was delivered to the ship. There were 24 crew members on the ship, including 23 Indians and one Myanmar native. After completing the repairs, the ship left for Sharjah by Monday midnight.
