Bombay HC places merchant vessel under civil arrest

Mumbai, February 24, 2011





The Bombay High Court has placed the vessel `MV Nordlake' under civil arrest after the Navy moved a plea seeking that the cargo ship must not be allowed to leave the Indian Waters following a collision here.



The HC gave the ruling yesterday.



The vessel had collided with `INS Vindhyagiri' off the coast here while leaving Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on January 30.



The Indian Navy, through Additional Solicitor General Darius Khambatta, told the HC the vessel had caused damage of approximately Rs 1,000 crore to the naval ship.



Mr. Kambatta said the Navy can't quantify the exact amount of damage to its ship, which was carrying engineering equipment and gunnery, as it was still half submerged.



He said the vessel did not follow traffic management and safety norms and sought its civil arrest. "Instead of proceeding on the starboard side (right side of the ship) it proceeded towards the port and caused the collision."



Post-mishap, Mr. Kambatta said, the 2,800-tonne naval ship was dragged for five minutes by the 16,000-tonne vessel. Later a fire broke out on `INS Vindhyagiri', causing a lot of damage.



Counsel of Sea Consortium, an agent of the MV Nordlake, requested the court that the ship be allowed to offload perishable cargo at JNPT.


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