Merchant vessel that ran aground off Mangaluru faces threat of sinking completely

PTI, Jun 23, 2022, 5:27 PM IST

The merchant vessel Princess Miral, which ran aground off Ullal near here is now submerged by 70 percent and is facing the threat of sinking completely as the sea is rough with high waves, official sources said. The ship agency owning the vessel is exploring ways to prevent the ship from sinking. The ship’s owner is holding talks with the representative of Marcan shipping agency based here.

The experts have to arrive from the Smith Salvage company of Mumbai to rescue the ship. It is learnt that the owner of the ship may try to salvage the cargo of steel coils, which is worth crores of rupees, sources said.

The ship was carrying the steel coils from Malaysia to Lebanon. Due to a technical fault, a hole developed in the front part of the ship. Though the agents of the vessel tried to bring it to New Mangalore Port (NMP) or the Old Port here for repair, permission was not granted. Meanwhile, the ship touched the bottom and got stuck at Ucchila in Ullal near here. The Indian Coast Guard personnel rescued 15 Syrian crew on board the ship.

The Coast Guard handed over the 15 crew members of the ship to Panambur police on Wednesday.

City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said the Dakshina Kannada district administration will take care of the Syrian nationals who were on board the ship for now. They will be later sent to the detention centre for foreigners in Bengaluru. After getting consent from the External Affairs ministry, they will be repatriated to Syria, he said.

Coast Guard personnel, port officials and coastal security police are in Ullal keeping a watch on the submerged vessel.