The US ship Exxon Valdez (now MV Oriental Nicety) will remain in Bhavnagar sea waters, the next hearing being on July 19.
Despite positive reports by inspection authorities, the Supreme Court on Monday deferred a decision on allowing beaching of controversial US ship Exxon Valdez (now MV Oriental Nicety) at Alang.
A bench of Justices Altmas Kabir and J Chelameswar, which is hearing the case, has asked all the ministries and departments concerned, including the shipping ministry, customs authorities, Gujarat Pollution Control Board and Gujarat Maritime Board to submit their responses on the interlocutory application filed by Gopal Krishna. The court has not passed any interim orders.
“The next hearing in the case will be on July 19. The apex court has given time to various parties to file their objections, if any, in connection with the ship. The ship is presently anchored in the sea, off Bhavnagar coast,” Sanjay Mehta, owner of Blue Oasis Ltd, which has bought the ship, told DNA.
According to sources, the state pollution control board, maritime board and other agencies have given a clean chit to the ship. “We did not find any toxic or hazardous waste in the ship during inspection. We think it should be allowed to be beached. We have also filed an affidavit to this effect before the court,” a source in the inspection team said.
Following the apex court’s directives, rules were framed in 2007 for dismantling of ships. These rules mandate that ships should be allowed to beach only after a collective nod from the pollution control authorities, maritime regulator and customs officials.
In 1989, Exxon Valdez had spilled almost 10.9 million gallons of its 53-million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Its then owners had to pay damages worth $3.5 billion to the affected persons and the US authorities.
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