SWEET NOTHING: Bags of substandard sugar lie piled on a barge lashed to the `M V Natalie' off the coast in Mumbai harbour, shortly before being taken for discharge ashore.

MUMBAI, May 27: A merchant vessel carrying approximately 1000 tonnes of substandard sugar is now unloading its cargo in the Mumbai harbour even as shipping circles have expressed fears that the sugar could find its way into the open market.

The ship was diverted to Mumbai after its cargo was rejected by Sri Lankan authorities last month. The vessel was even arrested by Lankan authorities for damage to the sugar consignment, and subsequently freed by its underwriters after being anchored off Colombo for over 40 days.

According to the Natalie's crew, the 9700-tonne ship embarked its cargo of 25,000 bags of sugar at Buenaventura, Colombia, for buyers in Sri Lanka a few months ago.

Rain and sea water seeped into the consignment after the vessel was caught in stormy weather while sailing for Colombo, transforming a large part of the cargo into a syrupy mess.

The St-Vincent registered ship arrived at the Mumbai port from Colombo on April 19. Last week it began discharging its cargo of sugar while at anchorage, nearly two kilometres offshore in the channel. The 1000 tons of sugar are valued at approximately 350,000 US dollars, and sources say that the ship's insurers were looking to recover the cargo costs.

According to sources, a barge loaded with the sugar bags was being towed towards Sewri on Tuesday for possible cargo discharge at Haji Bunder.

This incident comes in the wake of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation into Ship unloads a bitter crop the alleged sale of substandard wheat flour to shopkeepers in the Thane and Raigad districts. Nearly 9000 tonnes of wheat flour had been unloaded from a Ukrainian cargo vessel that ran aground off Worli last year.

``Since the sugar was sealed in polythene bags, the entire cargo has not been damaged. However, the question of the cargo coming in the open market does not arise, since it will first be inspected by the port health authorities,'' Captain S S Sahi of Sitara Shipping, agents for the Natalie in Mumbai, told Express Newsline. He said that if the cargo was deemed unfit for consumption, it could even be dumped at sea.

As per procedure, the port health officer is notified by customs authorities to conduct a random inspection of 5 per cent of all edible cargo arriving on ships entering the port. Samples are sent for analysis to the Central Food Labs, Pune, and the cargo cannot be sold without the port health officer's consent.

However, port health officials when contacted denied being asked by customs authorities to inspect the vessel's cargo. A senior Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) health official said the port health authority had not been asked to inspect or certify the Natalie's cargo of sugar. ``We cannot inspect a cargo on our own without being notified by the customs authorities,'' he stated.

``It is the duty of the port health authorities to monitor rotten foodstuffs entering the country, and ensure that it does not find its way into the market, since the customs can easily wash their hands off the cargo,'' revealed a shipping industry source. Sources say this consignment could very well be the Natalie's last cargo, since the ship's owners, the Singapore-based Samson Ship management, have decided to scrap the 26-year-old former Soviet vessel.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.