An ONGC pipeline carrying crude oil from the Bombay High to Uran burst on Friday morning, triggering fears of heavy oil spill on high seas off the Mumbai coast. The spillage had spread to around 35 kms till the report came in.
An ONGC pipeline carrying crude oil from the Bombay High to Uran burst on Friday morning, triggering fears of heavy oil spill on high seas off the Mumbai coast. The spillage had spread to around 35 kms till the report came in.
The rupture in the pipeline was spotted 40 nautical miles away from the city coast around 8.45am. The Indian Coast Guard (CG), the apex agency to control marine pollution, kicked off a combat operation soon.
Production at ONGC’s Mumbai High, the nation’s biggest oilfield, and Bassein oilfield was stopped immediately and the pipeline closed. Oil supply was diverted to an alternate pipeline.
“A leak was detected and crude pumping on the line stopped... ONGC has reacted immediately to control the spill,” Oil secretary S Sundareshan said.
Mumbai High and Bassein fields together produce 247,000 barrels of oil per day and the brief stoppage would mean that they would produce about 25,000 barrels less oil every day.
“If the weather is not bad the complete oil spill could be tackled within three to four days,” said inspector general, CG, SPS Basra.
According to CG officials, the chances of the spill reaching the Mumbai coast were slim due to South-Westerly winds. At present, there is no ban on fishing and only the affected area will be off limits for fishermen.
Elaborating on the operation, Mukesh Purohit, DIG, operations, said, “The CG launched Operation Paryavaran Suraksha immediately to mitigate the effects of oil spill. ICGS Sangram and Charlie 145, vessels patrolling the sea, were diverted towards the affected area.
They were asked to make an assessment of the situation and initiate steps to contain the spread of the spill.’’
The assessment was completed around 4pm and combat operations were launched soon.
By then, around 20 litres of oil spill dispersant (OSD) had been spread across the affected area from a helicopter. A Dornier aircraft was flown in from the Daman air station to strengthen the combat operations, he said, adding pollution control vessels Samudra Prahari and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan have sailed to the location.
Samudra Prahari has the capacity to contain around 10,000 tonnes of oil. The development in oil containment by Friday evening was said to be very positive, unlike the earlier incident of oil spill which happened after collision of two merchant vessels.
This time the CG was armed with specialised pollution control vessel.
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