Action to Remove Ships that Drift Towards Indian Shores

Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) are used to safeguard the coastline and to assist ships that break down due to technical snags or which are caught in bad weather. This was stated by the Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in a supplementary reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. The Minister further stated that taking into account the many accidents which take place during monsoon seasons, the Shipping Ministry has deployed an ETV on the West Coast of India during the southwest monsoon months for the first time this year. The ETV is managed by Smit International , Singapore and has been chartered by the SCI and is in operation from 24th June 2011. The name of the ETV is Smit Lumba and is stationed at Mumbai Port. The Indian Coast Guard monitors the operation of this vessel whenever it is deployed for extending service to the ships in need of assistance. The cost of hiring of ETV is Rs. 16.25 crores for 105 days. The ETV was used during the salvage of MV Wisdom and assisted in the salvage operations of MT Pavit which got grounded in Mumbai beach recently and also MV Rak, the Minister added. Based on the utility of the ETV this year, the Government is considering to engage three ETVs from next year, two in the West Coast and one in the East Coast during the monsoon season