Grounding of ships: Mumbai fishermen threaten to move court over compensation

Rattled by the recent incidents of grounding of ships, MV Wisdom, MT Pavit and MV Rak carrier, the fishermen's association in Mumbai today threatened to move the Bombay High Court over safety and security of coastal area and also for demanding compensation.

Less than a month after MV Wisdom was towed from Juhu beach, an unmanned oil tanker, MT Pavit, is adrift just off Versova beach while MV Rak, a cargo ship sunk off the Mumbai coast last week.

"The recent incidents of ships running aground off the Mumbai beach have triggered security and environmental fears. It exposes the lackadaisical attitude of authorities in preventing these incidents," Damodar Tandel, President, Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti, said.

Earlier, two cargo ships - MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia -had collided off Mumbai coast, causing a huge oil spill from one of the vessels.

The fishermen's association at that time had demanded compensation of Rs8 crore which they have not received yet.

"If the Maharashtra government fails to take action we will move the high court demanding compensation from MV Rak and MSC Chitra. Whatever compensation we receive, we will utilize it for environmental protection and coastal security," Tandel said.