Paradip: Though the sinking of MV Blackrose completed 15 years Monday, the event and circumstances leading to the mysterious grounding of the foreign cargo ship in the anchorage area of Paradip port still remain unsolved. And in the absence of any clarity by investigating agencies, the mishap – in which a foreign sailor had died – continues to make waves in the state politics. On September 9, 2009, the China-bound ship ran aground about 6km away from the anchorage area of the Paradip port. The ship remained half-sunk and was visible till 2014.
However, it later went completely underwater. The ship’s mysterious sinking became an issue during successive Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state, with various political parties and outfits demanding a thorough probe into the incident. However, even 15 years later, the Odisha Police Crime Branch, which took over the investigation from the local police, has neither completed the probe nor has it been able to approach the owners of the ship, Se Cook, in Mongolia. According to reports, the incident occurred when iron ore was being loaded onto the ship which had anchored at the berth of Paradip port September 9, 2009. The vessel was loaded 23,847 metric tonnes of iron ore cargo when its Captain asked to stop further loading. This was because the iron ore was soaked in rainwater, and the heavy cargo made the barge of the ship tilt to one side. However, the port authorities directed the Captain to leave the port as it was a time-consuming exercise to dry up the wet iron ore. It was said that the wet ore could have been dried up on the anchorage area if the port authorities desired so. Significantly, no paperwork was carried out before directing the ship to leave the berth. After the ship moved from its berth, it gradually tilted to one side in the anchorage area, before finally sinking by evening.
On being informed, personnel from the Marine Department of Paradip port sent a tug boat which rescued 26, out of 27, sailors of the ship. However, the ship’s chief engineer, Oleksandr Liyushckenko, got trapped in the cabin and his body was recovered eight days after the mishap. Ten days after the ship ran aground, 4,200 kilolitre of fuel and 920 metric tonnes of furnace oil leaked from the vessel were found floating on the surface of seawater. Alarmed over the pollution, the port authorities called in a US-based agency to pump out the remaining fuel from the ship. The port authorities had spent over Rs 40 crore to accomplish the task. The Marine police station at Nehru Bungalow registered a case in this connection and, later, the state Crime Branch took over the probe.
In the subsequent period, two petitions were filed in this connection in the Orissa High Court and Calcutta High Court. According to reports, during the Crime Branch probe, it was found that the ship was sailing without a sea-worthiness certificate and was declared unfit for operation after remaining 25- years in sea.
The Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) was supposed to conduct a verification of the ship before allowing it for further operations. Questions were also raised as to how the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) allowed the ship to sail from country to country without proper documents for a prolonged period of five years.
Moreover, fingers were also raised at the Paradip port authorities who allowed the ship, to enter into the berth, which had spent over 25 years in sea and lacked fitness and proper documents. The agent of the shipping company was then blacklisted, but it is now back in operation at the port under a different name. Sources said that the iron ore loaded in this ship belonged to three export agencies, and it was headed for China. It is alleged that those export agencies had connections with some politicians of Odisha. The Paradip Port authorities recommended a CBI probe into the incident in 2018, but nothing has happened so far. Moreover, the Centre has yet to summon the owners of the ship, Se Cook, to the country for questioning. Besides, the sunken ship is yet to be retrieved from the sea despite it posing an imminent threat to other ships sailing in the route travelling in the sea. Many fishing boats had close shaves after hitting the sunken ship.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Santosh Jena, said,” The matter is sub-judice. Anyways, the Crime Branch is investigating the case. I am not authorised to speak on the matter.”