Efforts to tow MV Wisdom to resume on Jun, 18

Mumbai, Jun 18: The towing of MV Wisdom, stranded at the juhu beach will continue on Saturday, Jun 18 (today) after naval operations to move the ship failed on Friday, Jun 17.

"The plan is that once the high tide comes in, the tug moves closer and the distance between the tug and the ship gets minimized. The reason why high tide is needed is that the ship also has to float, and once there is a floating ship and there is a tug wire in place, the pulling operation is ready to happen," said Satish Agnihotri, DG Shipping.

According to authorities, there is no toxic material which can pollute the Juhu beach or other beaches, but said that curious public was creating nuisance.

The ship is expected to be moved if the weather is fine, but if the towing is not done today, then the process may take time and the ship might have to stay at Juhu till high tides in Jul.

The rope laid for MV Wisdom snapped because of high tides and the huge cargo was not towed on Friday, Jun 17.

The Merchant Vessel Wisdom, a massive cargo ship was on its way to Alang Shipyard, Gujarat from Colombo to be dismantled. The engine of the ship failed while it was on its way and the cable used to tow-boat broke down subsequently. The ship started moving dangerously near the Bandra Worli sea link and then stranded at Juhu Beach on Saturday, Jun 17.

Earlier, equipments and steel cables were dropped through Naval helicopters on the ship so Smit Salvage Company, which has headquarters in Rotterdam could get to work. The cables would be attached so that the ship could be moved to Alang.

Earlier, environmentalists were worried as they feared the efforts to save a 9,000 ton ship could lead to serious damage for the ship's body causing it to sink. They also felt a possible toxic material leak from the ship wreck that could poison the waters near Juhu.

OneIndia News