Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 7: In-charge deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district, Prabhakar Sharma, visited the spot around where the ship, 'Asian Forest', loaded with iron ore, had sunk in the Arabian Sea off the New Mangalore Port, recently. On Wednesday evening, he went aboard the 'Savitri Bai Phule' ship belonging to Coast Guard to inspect the area.

Commandant of the Coast Guard, Padamshekhar Jha and New Mangalore Port Trust officer Capt Mohanty accompanied Sharma during the visit. Sharma informed later, that no symptoms of oil leakage were found and that the owners of the ship have made arrangements for extracting oil from the ship.

A team of three expert divers have arrived from Goa to the city, along with two assistants on Wednesday. They conducted spot inspection. They are equipped with latest equipments fitted with cameras, to detect oil leakage.

Padamshekhar Jha said that pumping out oil from the sunken ship is a complicated procedure. The experts will be drawing up a plan of action for taking out oil from the ship. As the climate on the sea is not congenial for such operations at present, the operation could not be executed immediately, he explained.