John Wilbert &VIkramaditya
Port Blair, Dec 29: Once again the issue of shortage of Tugboat has come to light today when due to non-availability of Tugboat the sailing of MV Nalanda was delayed by nearly two and a half hours.
As per details MV Nalanda with 242 passengers with 06 infants was scheduled to sail for Campbell Bay at 10 AM today for which embarkation was completed by 8.00 AM but after embarkation the sailing was delayed leaving the passengers worried. When contacted passengers were told that the sailing has been delayed due to non-availability of Tugboat but insiders told Andaman Sheekha that the new vessel MV Nalanda has bow thrusters.
Bow Thrusters also known as maneuvering thrusters are designed with propellers facing in a sideways direction so when it is turned on, it pushes the bow or stern of a boat sideways through the water, in either direction, helping the ship to port or berth without the help of tugboats.
As per reports, the PMB has presently only one operational Tugboat MT Andaman, which has reportedly developed some technical snags few weeks back because of which PMB could not provide Tugboat to DSS ship MV Nalanda after which DSS reportedly tried to get Tugboat from Defence but from Defence also the service of Tugboat could not be obtained and this confusion caused delay of nearly two and a half hours.
When contacted a senior officer of DSS confirmed the matter and added that the sailing was delayed due to unavailability of Tugboat. When asked why MV Nalanda needs Tugboat when it already has bow thrusters, he said that use of Tugboats is mandatory for ships during berthing and sailing from big ports like Haddo.
However, when Tugboats could not be arranged, top officials reportedly gave permission to MV Nalanda to sail without the help of Tugboat on DSS’s own responsibility of the DSS. Finally the ship MV Nalanda could sail at 12.35 noon.
