LONG WAIT FOR DRY DOCK Lack of coordination between SCI and DSS causes huge loss to Administration

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, Dec 31: MV Swaraj Dweep docked at Chennai Port without Dry Dock for over a month now reveals serious lack of coordination between the Administration, Shipping Department and the Shipping Corporation of India. At a time when the islanders are increasingly swaying towards ship travel owing to steep airfares, lackadaisical stance of the top officials of DSS and SCI has left thousands of ship passengers suffering for shortage of mainland voyages for the last more than 30 days even as the Shipping Corporation of India shells out about one lakh rupees per day to the Chennai Port Trust as charges for the superfluous anchorage.
According to reports, MV Swaraj Dweep reached Chennai for Dry Dock for necessary repairs and maintenance on the 03 Dec 2015. But due to non-availability of Dry Dock at Chennai Port, the mainland bound vessel has been kept at the Chennai Port.
The SCI has been paying about one lakh rupees per day to the Chennai Port Trust for each day, and this money will be finally be claimed from Administration, which is of course Tax Payers’ Money. Such delay shows the SCI has initiated no steps to approach the Chennai Port Trust to ask for the Dry Dock for MV Swaraj Dweep, the services of which is crucial for the people of these islands travelling to mainland.
“Lack of proper planning by the Directorate of Shipping Services and the Shipping Corporation of India is clearly established as lakhs of rupees from the government funds has been spent till date for the port charge of the vessel at Chennai. In the event on non-availability of Dry Dock, the SCI should have moved the vessel to Port Blair or should have kept the vessel at Port Blair where only about one third is charged by the Port Management Board, thus saving lakhs of government money. Such mismanagement is taking a huge toll on passengers in the islands as they are forced to shell out thousands of rupees for air travel in the absence of ship service. In future, the Shipping Department and the SCI should first ascertain the availability of Dry Dock facility at Chennai before allowing vessels to sail from Port Blair,” said an official of DSS requesting anonymity.
When contacted for a comment in this entire issue, a top officer of DSS has said that he is not in a position to comment anything in this case and told Andaman Sheekha to contact Director of Shipping Services for any comment in this regard.