Coast Guard bills Chitra Rs2.5 crore for oil spill work

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has demanded Rs2.5 crore as capitation charge for the expenditure that it incurred to combat the oil spill in Mumbai harbour after the collision of two merchant vessels, MV Khalijia and MSC Chitra, last month.

In a report submitted to the MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) management, ICG detailed the nature of operations carried out to fight the disaster and the expenses made thereof.    

On August 7, the vessels collided in the mouth of the harbour. Two fuel tanks of Chitra were damaged and 800 tonnes of oil got drained into the sea. Following this, operations at MbPT and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) were shut for four days.

Besides, the navigational route was not opened completely to ships as several containers on board Chitra had fallen into the sea creating the possibility of damaging plying vessels.

The ICG used several vessels to contain the spill. Also, Dornier aircrafts and Chetak helicopters sprayed oil spill dispersants (OSD).

Named Operation Chitra, the ICG worked for almost 20 days. The Navy was roped in for search operations for the missing containers as well as to escort merchant vessels in and out of the port in order to avoid any accident.  

Earlier, the Maharashtra government had demanded Rs3 crore as compensation for the losses suffered by the state. The MSC management has so far released Rs1 crore.

A senior coast guard officer said: “The amount is capitation charge for the combat operations conducted by ICG. Other agencies will also submit their reports as per their expenditure and losses suffered by them. The charges will not be paid to the agencies but to the government of India.”