Vessel Collision Closes India’s Two Largest Ports

India’s two biggest ports, the Port of Mumbai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, are likely to be shut for at least a week, as their main channel remains blocked by containers that fell off a ship after it collided with a breakbulk vessel on Saturday.

A senior Mumbai Port official told the Hindu Business Line that it will take at least five or six days to clear nearly 250 containers sunk in the main navigation channel.

As of Monday, there were about 80 vessels waiting at sea for berths at the three terminals at JN Port. These vessels are likely to be diverted to Pipavav, Mundra or Kandla ports in Gujarat, said a port official. “Maersk Line has stopped its bookings and I suspect the others will follow suit,” he said.

The delays and the expected pile up once the sea lane opens could cost India as much as $65 million in trade, he said.

Mumbai harbor has been closed for traffic after the collision of the container vessel MSC Chitra and the breakbulk vessel Khaligia-III on Saturday.

The MSC Chitra, which is owned by Mediterranean Shipping Co., was on its way to Mundra port in Gujarat from JNPT when it was hit by the breakbulk carrier, which was coming to berth at Mumbai port.

Most of the 20-foot and 40-foot containers that fell off are lying underwater, making movement of large ships through the common channel for Mumbai and JNPT terminals difficult, the official said. The ship is not in the main channel, but is grounded a little away from it.

The vessel is dangerously tilted to port side, which has resulted in about 120 containers falling from its deck and heavy oil spillage from its fuel tanks. Salvage operations will take time as the sunken containers have to be located and marked before they are retrieved. SMIT, Dutch salvage experts, have arranged for equipment to arrive from Singapore during the next few days.

The MSC Chitra was coming from Dubai was to pick up cargo from JN Port and Mundra, and was scheduled to sail to Africa next week.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Tuesday that a preliminary review of the black box carried by the MSC Chitra during its collision on Saturday in the Port of Mumbai indicated that “under the rules of navigation the Khaligia 3 was significantly in error.”