Sarthak Kanjilall & Vikramaditya
Port Blair, May 31: The vessel MV Nancowry that sailed for Chennai with the 161 stranded passengers on 26th May 2020 reached the Chennai Harbour this afternoon, almost after a delay of 01-02 days.
As per reports, soon after starting from Port Blair, the engine of the vessel developed some technical snags somewhere near North Sentinel Island following which the vessel halted there for some hours on 26th May 2020 night.
The vessel reportedly started for the Chennai Port the next day morning, however, as per the sources, the vessel operated with slow speed and sailed the entire voyage at a speed of nearly 08 nautical miles approximately. However, some sources said that the technical snags were minor in nature and were attended by engineers onboard. Sources also said that wind blowing against the ship was also a reason for slow speed of the vessel.
Not only this, Andaman Sheekha has also received complaints that the Air Conditioners and the Exhausters in the entire vessel were not functional and it has added to the woes of the passengers.
Also, it is learned through the passengers that before the sailing the Director of the Shipping Services himself visited the ship, and prior to the sailing, he himself noticed the non-functional Air Conditioners in the ship.
When contacted a senior officer of DSS said that the technical manning of the ship is looked after by SCI and hence questions should be asked to SCI.
Therefore Andaman Sheekha contacted a senior officer of SCI in Andaman, who on condition of anonymity said that the vessel is controlled from Chennai and not from Port Blair, “I won’t get any message regarding this from Chennai. While sailing from Port Blair the ship was not having any technical snags,” said the senior SCI officer.
This is strange that a ship with people and crew onboard is developing technical snags on high sea and officials are not willing to give a proper response to media and public.
Even if the technical snags are minor in nature, hopefully, the authorities of the DSS will check the preparedness prior to the sailing of every vessel and also will fix responsibility on the SCI for such lapses.
However, proper coordination and support from the end of the crew members helped the passengers to a great extend.
