Surveyors probing ship grounding incident

KARACHI - The surveyors of the ship MV JPO Delphinus, which was grounded near Gwadar a couple of days ago, have reached the Gwadar Port to probe the incident. Moreover, the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) has also started investigation of the accident, and after the report the demurrage would be paid either by Protection and Indemnity Club or by Port of Singapore Authority (PSA). The Nation learnt that the surveyors are to decide about the way of releasing the ship as they are left with two options, one is to tug the ship and the second is to off load the ship. Experts said that a high tide of 2.1 meters is expected to come on Dec 15, which is another hope for the release of the ship but that is not the best option, as the ship could not be freed even through the tide as high as 2.3 meters. Experts said that an under-training pilot was assigned to steer the ship, resultantly the ship was grounded at the Inner Channel Red Buoy, reflecting irresponsible attitude of the pilot. Sources revealed that the grounded ships captain, who is blamed for this incident, did not posses valid license. It is pertinent to mention that MV JPO Delphinus loaded with 51,027.81 metric tonnes of urea, while entering harbour for berthing, with pilot of PSA Gwadar onboard, had been grounded wrongly near the Gwadar port.

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