Kochi, July 1 The staff of the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) has rescued all the 15 crew members of an Albanian cargo vessel that sank off Kochi, about 500 m north of the channel, on Saturday night.

The crew of the Panama-registered m.v. Maria S, including five Indians and 10 Albanians, were rescued and brought to CPT Hospital for check-up.

None of them suffered any injuries, a port release said.

Cargo

The ship, carrying 3,000 tonnes of steel billets and six trucks, was on its way to Albania from China when it developed a leak in the hull.

It had picked up anchor and was proceeding to the channel for entry into the port.

Due to the leak, the vessel had diverted from its voyage and had been anchored at the outer anchorage of Cochin Port for shelter since June 26.

The Captain of the vessel informed the port that the vessel was sinking.

Immediately on receipt of the distress message, the port sent a senior pilot with two tugs – Tug Bali and Tug Balwan – for assistance.

The pilot boarded the ship and, while transiting the channel, noticed that the bow of the ship had started going down and that the ship had lost speed, indicating that it was about to sink.

The pilot immediately altered course and steered the ship outside the channel on the northern side to avoid blockage of the channel.

Tug Bali went alongside and rescued all the 15 crew members.

The release said that the prompt, skilful and daring action of the pilot to steer the ship out of the channel while it was sinking had saved the port’s channel from being blocked, which could have seriously affected the traffic of the port as well as movement of naval ships.

Oil spill

Meanwhile, senior port officials said that the Coast Guard and the Navy have been informed for further course of action, especially for anti-pollution activities in view of the oil spillage in the channel.

The Coast Guard has started spraying of oil spill dispersal on Sunday as there is a slight spillage of oil in the channel.

Since the vessel was a small one, the spillage has been minimal, consisting of only 40 tonnes of gas oil and two tonnes of lube oil.

This can be contained with the existing facilities of the Coast Guard here, the officials added.