Captain of stranded cargo ship sought help from control tower, reveals audio recording

KARACHI: ARY News on Monday obtained the audio recording of the conversation between the captain of a cargo ship, stuck at Karachi’s Sea View beach, and the control tower.

In the audiotape, the captain can be heard seeking help from the authorities concerned.

The audio recording revealed that the ship’s captain had tried to contact the relevant authorities several times.

“MV Heng Tong is contacting the Muhammad Bin Qasim port’s control on channel 16,” the captain sent the message thrice.

After the third attempt, the captain was told to contact Channel 10 of a port control tower. The captain did not get any response when he contacted channel 10.

As per the audiotape, the captain then decided to take help from Karachi Manora control. “Our ship is heading towards the shore and it may ground,” he said.

“Sorry, we cannot help you,” the control tower replied.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Maritime Affairs Mehmood Moulvi revealed today that the vessel stuck at Karachi’s beach will not be able to move before August 15.

Talking to the media along with Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, Moulvi said that the shipping company has been asked to remove oil from the cargo ship first.

Replying to a question about a halt in rescue work, the SAPM said that the port remained closed during the Eid holidays due to which the work was halted.

It is pertinent to mention here that the cargo vessel (MV) Heng Tong 77 ran aground and stuck at Karachi beach near Seaview in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The 98 metres in length and 20 metres wide ship, with a capacity of 3,600 dead weight tonnage, was said to be waiting for a crew change outside the Karachi harbour while on its way to Turkey from China when a sea storm caused it to lose its anchors and start drifting towards the shore.