Crew members of Taiwanese vessel to be questioned

Kochi, Jul 17 (UNI) The crew members of the Taiwanese fishing vessel Isabel III, which ran aground a coral reef near an uninhabited Lakshadweep Island on Saturday night, are to be questioned by a joint team of investigators today.

All 33 crew members, who were airlifted to Kavaratti by a Naval Seaking helicopter from the uninhabited Suhaili island, about 40 nautical miles south of Kavratti last evening, are presently lodged in the India Reserve Battalion camp, Lakshadweep Administration officials said.

A medical check up had been done and all the crew members were reported to be in good condition, they added.

Senior Lakshadweep police officials told UNI that a joint team of the union territory police, the Coast Guard and the Intelligence Bureau will interrogate the crew members.

''If any violation of the Indian laws is detected, appropriate legal action will be taken,'' they added.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard personnel will try to pull back the Taiwanese vessel, which had run aground a coral reef in turbulent sea on Saturday night. The vessel, which was about 50 meters long and nine meters wide, was perched at a 45 degree angle on the reef.

''As the sea on the western side of the reef, where the vessel is grounded, is very rough, it will take time to pull it back,'' Coast Guard officials here said.

The last port of call of the vessel, flying a Seychelles flag, was Oman. It was heading for Singapore.

The crew members abandoned the ship when it began to list. While 32 of them managed to swim to Suhaili, one person was rescued by a Naval helicopter.

Of the 33 crew members, 12 each are Filipino and Chinese, four are Taiwanese, three Vietnamese and two Indonesian.

The exact cause of the grounding is yet to be ascertained, Coast Guard officials said. The Coast Guard is keeping a continuous vigil in the area for any oil spill from the stranded vessel, which was carrying about 190 kilolitres of marine diesel. The Coast Guard officials however said that in case of any spillage, the marine diesel will evaporate fast and there was no danger of marine contamination.

UNI ARC DK1359