Oil spill from sunken Mongolian vessel causes widespread ecological damage

Fears of an ecological disaster are being expressed over the leakage of oil fro m a sunken Mongolian ship off Paradip on Monday. According to environmetalists a portion of the spill is moving towards the shore and could play havoc with the rich bio-diversity in the area.

According to Sudhanshu Parida, an environmentalist and district unit secretary of People for Animals, the region is home to the world's largest rookery of the endangered Riddle turtles and a large number of other marine species.

He said than an undetermined amount of oil has leaked into the water and this could trigger an environmental disaster, especially if the oil were to accumulate in the bottom sediments along the shore.
 
However, according to Paradip Port Trust (PPT) deputy conservator G P Biswal there was no immediate risk as it was a minor leak due to discharge of lubricants and other oils from the sunken ship, however the furnace and diesel tanks were intact and there was no need to worry about a disaster unless the ship split into two which was not likely to happen.

He added that PPT's oil recovery ships were equipped to deal with the spill  and there was no risk to the ecology.    

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has also swung into action with a team from the board working along with the Coast Guard and PPT to arrest the spread of the spill. Also an environment expert from the board, Dilip Kumar Behera is taking stock of the situation according to officials.
 
The Mongolian vessel, Black Rose which sank off Paradip on 9 September carried 924 tonnes of furnace oil and 48 tonnes of diesel for running its diesel engines. Coast Guard officials have stepped up surveillance and are ready to spray dispersants on the spillage.

Even after 12 days of the sinking of the vessel, the authorities of Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) have failed to evacuate oil from the vessel due to infrastructure constraints and lack of cooperation from the owners of the vessel.          

Local fishermen sighted oil floating on the seashore this morning and alleged that the spill had taken a toll of hundreds of marine fish which are floating to the sea shore. 
 
The officials of Black Rose Maritime Shipping Ltd, the Singapore-based company had not yet reached Paradip as the vessel was not carrying any legal documents or insurance papers.