Bid to convert abandoned B’desh ship into floating restaurant turns jinxed

Visakhapatnam: The ambitious plan to give a shot in the arm to promote tourism on the beachfront in Visakhapatnam by converting m.v. Maa, a Bangladeshi cargo ship which ran aground in 2020 following a cyclonic storm, into a floating restaurant still remains on paper.

Though the State government had declared an allotment of Rs 10 crore for the project, it is yet to take some shape due to procedural wrangle in getting clearance from environmental point of view.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) had also tied up with Shore & Ship Resorts Private Repair Ltd to make necessary alterations within the vessel at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore.

Green activists say that the continuation of the ship just close to Tenneti Park, a popular venue for the localities and tourists in the city, is an environmental risk.

The Bangla cargo vessel, with a length of around 80 meter anchored at Visakhapatnam on September 19, 2020 in ballast condition to load 2800 MT of quartzite for the Port of Mongla. On the fateful night of October 12, 2020, the vessel parted her anchor chain and drifted ashore near Tenneti Park due to strong winds. The vessel was having 41 MT of fuel oil and nine MT of diesel oil on-board when it ran aground with a potential risk of causing oil spillage.

The vessel owner’s Protection and Indemnity Club had appointed M/s.M.S. Gill Marine on October 13, 2020 to remove fuel oil from the vessel. It was reported that M/s.M.S. Gill Marine had obtained permission from various government authorities to take up the work. But, since there was no access road to the site of the grounded vessel, a temporary road was laid by the vendor to mobilise men and material. Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) also mobilised its own oil spill response equipment with a dedicated team to the site to cater to any untoward oil pollution around the vessel.

In the meantime the owner of the vessel had appointed MS Resolve Marine Pvt Ltd to undertake the salvage operation to refloat the vessel, which could be initiated only after removal of oil from the vessel to avoid any risk of ocean pollution.

All the 15 Bangladeshi crew were later allowed to leave the vessel when the owners of the ship failed, due to various reasons, to make it worthy of ocean voyage owing to the heavy cost involved in it. They later intimated their decision to abandon it.

Subsequently, one of the vendors from the city bought it to convert it into scrap. The State government meanwhile intervened and explored various options to make it fit by redesigning to convert it into a floating restaurant as part of an effort to promote beach tourism. However, delay in getting clearances from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, clearance under the Coastal Regular Zone (CRZ) guidelines and other authorities turned the project jinxed.