MV Islamabad: Probe is on

Investing agencies are so far not satisfied with the response and explanation provided by the captain of Pakistan-owned cargo carrier MV Islamabad, sources said.

“Our investigation is still on. We are looking at various issues related to divergence of ship’s route and its immobility for four days among others. We are also inspecting the leakage in the vessel’s hull 2 as claimed by the captain,” an officer involved in the investigation said.

According to sources, after leaving from Kandla with 16,000 tonnes of sugar for Iraq on July 6, the vessel diverted southwards, whereas its scheduled route should have been to reach Okha Port and then diverge to the southern direction.

“The anchoring point near Jam Salaya where it was tracked is just a 24-hour journey to the Karachi port in Pakistan, where the vessel was built in 1983. We are now assessing the operational capability of the vessel to ascertain whether it can sail till Karachi,” the official added.

The Indian coast guard had intercepted the suspicious vessel, MV Islamabad, anchored off the Jam Salaya and Vadinar coast in Jamnagar district since July 7. It was detected anchored at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the Jam Salaya coast by the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS). The coast guard then brought it to anchorage at Kandla for investigation of possible reconnaissance or unknown motives.