Kasargod: Gas containers were part of sunken Japanese ship
Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (DV)
Kasargod, Jul 28: Officials have confirmed that the gas containers spotted on the Kasargod sea shore belonged to the vessel 'MOL Comfort' that had sunk off the Salalah coast, Oman on June 17.
Representatives of the Nautical Institute stated that a period of one month was required to dispatch the containers but the district commissioner P S Mohammed Sagir has directed that they be dispatched within ten days.
MOL Comfort sinking
The district administration also sought help from the Indian Navy to transport the gas containers to Mangalore port.
The vessel, belonging to the Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) Company based in Tokyo, Japan submerged off the Oman coast, broke into pieces and caught fire.
The containers and the fragments of the ship floated towards the coastal area from Karwar to Kasargod.
A team comprising Captain Allen Lobo, surveyor of MOL Comfort and insurance department officer Harsha D’Souza, forensic expert Sachidanadha, visited Kasorgod in this regard.
The team also visited to Kumble Berike, Mogral Nangi, Kottikulam and examined the gas containers. They also took the refrigerators, the cylinder, football and other items that were washed ashore a few days back.
The company experts assured that the containers were not harmful.
Officials also said that the gas containers found in Kasargod contained fuel worth Rs 3 crore, each carrying fuel worth Rs 30 lac to Rs 50 lac. Each of the container had a capacity to store 24,300 litres of refridgerated gas.
The container consisted chlorodifluoromethane or propane-22 used for refrigerators which has a huge value in the international market. Several countries have banned this gas, said experts.