Nine more containers slip off listing MSC Chitra

Nine more containers have fallen off the vessel MSC Chitra, listing off the Mumbai coast after colliding with another vessel, officers of the Directorate General of Shipping said on Tuesday. ''The Coast Guard has managed to retrieve four of these containers. Of the five other that are missing, four contain solid sodium hydroxide and one contains solid pesticides.

The search for them is on,'' said an officer from the directorate.

MSC Chitra, which collided with MV Khalijia-III on 7 August, had 531 containers on board. Of these, 31 contained hazardous chemicals such as solid sodium hydroxide and solid phosphate pesticides.

Officers from the DG (Shipping) said the ship is still tilted at 30 degrees and some of the containers on the deck of the ship have fallen into the ship's hold. Neither the Coast Guard nor the Navy has spotted any containers floating on the sea. 

Navy survey boats that have been employed to mark and help retrieve sunken containers have identified six sunken containers near the main navigational channel and eight at other locations. Divers deployed by salvers from SMIT International, Singapore, are attending to the sunken containers near the navigation channels on a priority basis.

The two vessels were severely damaged after the collision that occurred off the Mumbai coast. More than 400 tonnes of fuel oil spread across the coastline, severely damaging the marine habitat.