« Back to article

Print this article

Wisdom stranded at Juhu beach

MV wisdom, a 145-metre long cargo vessel bound for Alang ship-breaking yard from Colombo, sparked a major scare on Saturday afternoon after it broke free from its tug and drifted towards the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai.

MV Wisdom has now drifted towards the Juhu beach and is just 400 metres from the coastline.

Click on NEXT to see more PHOTOS ...

Wisdom stranded at Juhu beach

The vessel was being tugged by MV Seabulk Plover for scrap when the tow was lost around 12 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast on Saturday afternoon.

A coast guard officer said the ship was headed for the bridge's pillar number 19, which is close to the cable support structure. Around 6 pm on Saturday , the ship was just 5 km from the bridge, when sea currents and the wind made it turn course. Around 6.30 pm, it went within 3.5 km of Taj Lands End, before continuing towards Juhu, where it got grounded around 8 pm.

Wisdom stranded at Juhu beach

Wisdom's tug, the MV Seabulk Plover, has arrived in Mumbai. The coast guard ship Sankalp will help in the salvage.

The Directorate General of Shipping has said the ship does not pose a threat to coastal waters because it does not contain fuel.

Wisdom stranded at Juhu beach

S B Agnihotri, the director-general of shipping, was quoted by media agencies as saying, "Prima facie, it does appear that the towing rope may have snapped causing the vessel to drift to Mumbai. We should be able to conclude our inquiry soon. The inquiry will try to ascertain if the towing material was of substandard quality or if the loadbearing capacity of the tug or the towing material was inadequate"

Wisdom stranded at Juhu beach

Sources say the DGS are in touch with the owners of the vessel who are trying to make arrangements within the next few days to refloat it and take it to Alang.

If the damage is minimal, the ship could be towed away even despite high tides. The coastguard could even look at dismantling a few parts of the ship to reduce the weight to make towing simpler. In case there was considerable damage to the ship, it might have to be completely dismantled on the spot.