An Indian container ship which developed a technical fault and began drifting off the west coast of India near Mumbai at the weekend will be towed to a nearby port, its owners said on Tuesday.
The ship, OEL Vision, a 6,302 dead weight tonne vessel owned by Indian firm Shreyas Shipping & Logistics Ltd, developed the fault while en route to Kandla port in the western Indian state of Gujarat from Colombo in Sri Lanka, Anil Devli, executive director at Shreyas Shipping, said. "We are trying to identify the problem and will tow the vessel either to Mumbai or Pipavav," Devli said. Pipavav port is located in southern Gujarat.
The ship began drifting towards a rig operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) in the Mumbai High oil field on Sunday due to bad weather but stopped when it dropped two anchors, the Indian Coast Guard said. Devli said the vessel was now anchored about 3 nautical miles from ONGC's rig. It had 28 people on board and was carrying about 260 empty and laden containers.
An ONGC spokeswoman said the company had evacuated 77 personnel from the rig on Sunday night and the installation was safe. A major fire at Mumbai High in July last year destroyed an ONGC crude processing platform. The Coast Guard said a vessel had been deployed near OEL Vision to ensure smooth passage to a nearby port.