Process of removing oil from ship grounded at Seaview continues

KARACHI: The process to remove oil from a merchant ship that ran aground at Seaview is underway, ARY News reported on Thursday.

As per details, the process of removing oil from the ship is underway from today’s early morning. The officials said that the process of transferring oil can be completed by 9 pm today.

The officials of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Pakistan Navy (PN) and Maritime Security Agency (MSA) are taking part in the operation, while the ban has been slapped on taking bath at the Seaview.

Cargo vessel (MV) Heng Tong 77 ran aground and stuck at Karachi beach near Seaview in the wee hours of last Wednesday.

Earlier, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Maritime Affairs Mahmood Moulvi had said, we could not take risk of oil spill, the oil being removed before pulling the vessel stuck at the beach.

“The decision to remove oil from the ship was taken with consultation of the stakeholders,” he had said.

Panama registered M.V. Heng Tong 77 was anchored in Pakistan’s territorial waters off Karachi for a crew change on July 21 when it lost anchors due to rough seas and drifted towards the shore, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) said.

“By the time the vessel informed KPT of her drifting, it was already in shallow waters,” the port authority said in a tweet. The ship is carrying 118 tons of bunker fuel.

On July 27, 2003, Tasman Spirit, an oil tanker, ran aground while navigating to the Karachi Port. It broke up and spilled around 30,000 metric tons of oil over the next few days, in one of Pakistan’s worst environmental disasters.