Rahul Singh, John & Sarthak Kanjilall
Great Nicobar, Feb 07: General Cargo worth lakhs of rupees got spoiled inside MV Chowra vessel due to leakages in the deep freezer kept inside the cargo container of the vessel, claims shopkeepers of Campbell Bay.
As per reports, when the vessel MV Chowra reached Campbell Bay today at 02:00pm and after the ship unloaded the general cargo, the shopkeepers found their items totally damaged.
According to the vendors, around 75 to 80 rice bags of 25kg, one sugar bag of 50kg and a Wheat flour bag of 160kg got spoiled due to the leakages in the freezer.
“There are other items too but were packed ones like spices et cetera, hence, those were saved from getting spoiled but the major items were rice, sugar, wheat flour,” said a shopkeeper.
After looking at spoiled items, crestfallen shopkeepers immediately met the Chief Officer and Captain of the vessel, where they were asked to demand compensation in written from the Directorate of Shipping Services to which the shopkeepers had to agree as they don’t have any other option.
According to details, the vessel MV Chowra left from Port Blair on 04th February, 2020 and reached Campbell Bay after touching ports like Car Nicobar, Chowra, Teressa, and Nancowry.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha over phone, KC Murugan, Secretary, Small Trader Association Campbell Bay said that this is not the first time such a kind of issue has taken place.
He said that many times their cargo materials are stolen but even after complaining to the DSS in written, no steps were taken.
“MV Chuglum is one of the ships which trouble us the most in this issue,” said Mr KC Murugan.
“We have attained a loss of nearly a lakh and we demand compensation from the DSS,” said Mr KC Murugan.
