A foreign-flagged tanker that was in danger of capsizing off the coast of Odisha was saved by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) when its main engine failed and a ballast tank quickly flooded. Around 7.30 a.m. on September 27, the Belize-flagged MT Seagull 9, which was transporting 9,000 metric tons of palm oil and 23 crew members, sent out a distress call due to an engine failure and rapid flooding that caused the ship to tilt dangerously. ICGS Vishwast was sent to the location, which is around 37 nautical miles east-southeast of Paradip, right away by the ICG. According to ICG sources, a specialized ICG Damage Control Team boarded the unstable tanker and employed submersible de-flooding pumps and other equipment to manage the issue.
According to sources, the team confined a third broken line, stopped the flow, and blanked two damaged seawater pipelines. In order to continue 24-hour surveillance and bolster pollution response procedures, a Pollution Control Vessel and an extra Offshore Patrol Vessel were also diverted to the area. According to sources, the ICG team’s simultaneous cargo-transfer and de-flooding operations, coordinated with the tanker’s crew, stabilized the vessel and prevented the possibility of capsizing. For aerial observation, an ICG Dornier aircraft was sent from Bhubaneswar.
He said that stringent pollution-response procedures were still in place and that a small palm oil sheen that had been observed close to the vessel on Sunday had entirely disappeared by Monday during follow-up overhead missions. The stabilized tanker was then transported to the anchorage location off Paradip by the Paradip Port Authority tug Dolphin. The sources also stated that the ICGS Vishwast technical team is helping to repair the tanker’s main engine.
