The oil spill has affected the movement of 15 outgoing and 41 incoming ships at the regions two ports,including 22 waiting at offshore anchorages for docking up to August 12. Till the approach channel to the Mumbai harbour is cleared,it is likely some ships waiting at offshore anchorages will be diverted to other ports such as Kandla in Gujarat. The total of 56 includes 18 at Jawaharlal Nehru Port,nine either way,an unprecedented situation for a port that handles 60 per cent of the countys container traffic. Mumbai Ports list of 38 includes six that have completed operations at the Indira Docks; the other 32 ships,with arrivals scheduled till September 3,include 13 already at offshore anchorages. Louisa Schulte (with 1,057 containers) and Xpress Annapurna (with 1,911 containers) completed operations at JNPT Monday,and German S (with 1,301 containers) Sunday. The others waiting there are American President Line (APL),Melbourne,Mare Threcium,CGM Jade,Darya Maan and Nedloyd Hudson. At At Mumbai Port,the six docked were to sail on Tuesday: HAL Pedant,BBC Spain,Nand Hazira,Calmy Coral,Kamal and F C Anjan. Since ships calling on the MbPT and the JNPT use the same approach channel,traffic is at a standstill as of now. Efforts are being made to clear the channel and declare it safe for navigation, a senior port official said. The MbPT and the JNPT are both tidal ports,which are at the mercy of the sea and we cant afford to take risks. Any haste in restoring the traffic might result in another vessel running aground in the channel if any container is still lying underwater. There is a possibility of ships being diverted to other ports such as Kandla because of the closure of the channel here, he said. The losses will pile up massively,but we are expecting the insurers of the ships involved in the mishap to compensate. He added that the closure of channel had also affected the movement of oil tankers to Jawahar Dweep,(formerly Butcher Island).
