Mumbai Coast News

China and Myanmar are moving ahead with a China-backed deep-sea port project in Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) , 250 miles northwest of Yangon.The framework agreement was signed by Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance and Chairperson of the Management Committee of the Kyaukphyu SEZ U Set Aung and President of CITIC Group Chang Zhenming, stated Chinese state media.This is the third port in India’s vicinity. China is also developing deepwater strategic Gwadar port in Pakistan in the Arabian Sea which faces the Mumbai coast. It has also acquired Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on debt swap in the Indian Ocean. It is also…

The Indian Navy has widened its search operations for the missing crew members of the Pawan Hans helicopter  (C/s VT-PWA) which crashed off the Mumbai coast on Saturday. The helicopter with seven people on-board, including five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company’s oil installation in the Arabian sea on Saturday. According to NDTV report, on the third day of search in the high seas, the rescuers located the last remaining body - of the missing pilot. Earlier the rescue teams of Indian Navy and the Coast Guard had recovered six bodies on Saturday, including the five ONGC deputy general managers who perished and one of the pilots. However, this is not officially confirmed.

‘Kalvari’ (Tiger Shark), the first of the Scorpene-class submarines, went to sea for the first time on Sunday marking the commencement of sea trials. The submarine sailed out at about 10 am under her own propulsion for the first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast. Kalvari is the first of the India's six Scorpene-class submarines being built under the much-delayed Project 75. The vessels are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) Mumbai  in collaboration with French company DCNS. She is part of the ongoing project for constructing six Scorpene class submarines, in collaboration with DCNS, which will include transfer of technology to MDL. Kalvari is expected to be commissioned by the end of September. It is 67-metres long and 6.2-metres wide and displaces 1500 tons.

Three more Immediate Support Vessels (ISV) will be commissioned into the Western Naval Command by early next year, taking the total strength to 17. The latest batch of four ISVs - small and fast weaponised speedboat-like vessels - was commissioned a fortnight ago in a ceremony where Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present. On the occasion, Fadnavis said that the ISV will enhance the capacity of the Indian Navy to provide better security. ISVs are armed with heavy machine guns and state-of-the-art radar-navigational equipment. The induction and deployment of these ships will augment the ongoing efforts to bolster coastal security and provide protection to offshore assets from asymmetric threats.

In a dramatic nightlong sea-air coordinated chase, the Indian Coast Guard ship interdicted a Russian Federation Flagged Cargo Vessel MV Sevastopol, which was under order of arrest issued by the Madras High Court, about 100 nautical miles north-west of Mumbai. MV Sevastopol, anchored at 15 nautical miles (28 km) north-west of the Mumbai coast in Alpha Anchorage, had switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS), Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and navigational equipment, and tried to flee around 1 am IST yesterday (Tuesday) in an attempt to escape the judicial proceedings. The vessel managed to sail up to 110 nautical miles (204 km) away from the coast till it was interdicted by the Coast guard officials commanded by Umed Singh.

Indian Navy chief Admiral D.K. Joshi  resigned from his position, hours after a submarine mishap off Mumbai coast in which seven sailors were injured and two officers went missing, reports Xinhua. The Indian Defense Ministry has accepted the resignation of 59- year-old Admiral Doshi, the first military chief to quit taking moral responsibility of a spate of mishaps involving Indian Navy warships and submarines in the past few months. The resignation of Admiral Doshi, who was appointed the Indian Navy chief in 2012 and was due to retire next year…

A major fire aboard the Colombo-bound merchant vessel 'Amsterdam Bridge' off Mumbai coast reportedly contained & cooling operations underway. Indian Coast Guard officials said, "The flames have been contained but not extinguished. The ship, carrying hazardous cargo, caught fire near the Prongs Reef Lighthouse in South Mumbai, reports the Hindustan Times. Coast Guard officials said that they have not witnessed any oil spill so far even though the ship fuel tank contained 2,600 tonnes of heavy fuel. The cause of the blaze is not yet known but the actual seat of the fire has been localised in hold number three of the vessel, officials said.

According to an August 9 report from The Times of India, state environment minister Suresh Shetty has instructed the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to register an offence against the staff and owners of both the MV Khalijia 3 and MSC Chitra, which collided off the Mumbai coast on the morning of August 8 and now pose an oil spill threat to the city. The MSC Chitra is tilting at an angle of 75 degrees in the sea and some 250 of its containers-which have hazardous chemicals-are floating off the Mumbai coast. (Source: The Times of India)

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has initiated negotiations with shipping companies to keep oil from its Bombay High oil fields flowing after the Directorate General of Shipping recalled its 27 offshore supply vessels for safety reasons. The top management of ONGC, led by its Chairman R S Sharma, flew to Mumbai to meet top Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) officials to procure offshore supply vessels (OSVs) urgently for deploying into the fields situated 160 km off the Mumbai coast in the high seas. SCI takes care of operations and management of 22 vessels of ONGC (16 OSVs and 6 specialised vessels). But the maintenance is outsourced to third parties. ONGC is unlikely to get more than 15 vessels from the open market at this point of time, industry sources said.

The Directorate General of Shipping (DG, Shipping) has asked India’s biggest oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to recall 27 of its 46 supply ships for undergoing safety audits immediately. The DG Shipping directive, which could lead to the disruption in oil production, has come within days after an ONGC-chartered ship, Samudrika-10, sunk off the Mumbai coast, killing five people on board. In a notice dated July 11 to ONGC, the DG Shipping ordered around 27 OSVs (offshore supply vessels) to be recalled to the base for undergoing safety management tests before resuming duty at Bombay High. ONGC operates 46 offshore supply vessels which help in production and maintenance of India’s largest oil field, Bombay High, situated 160 kilometers north west of Mumbai.