Seized ship sinking in litigation

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI, OCT.31. The pirated merchant vessel, Gloria Kopp, apprehended dramatically by Coast Guard about two years ago, lies just inside the anchorage in the Chennai Port, awaiting a decision on litigation in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.

The disputes include those raised by the crew for payment, by cargo interests for disposal of the goods and recovery of costs and by the insurers. Indian authorities including the Customs have held that the ship could still have contraband and insisted that it be not allowed to sail.

``At the current rate, the settlement of these litigation could take a couple of years,'' said a spokesperson for the attorneys to the insurers, King & Partridge .

Seafarers fear that the fate of the Seven Seas vessel, which sunk just outside the harbour in the mid-1980s could befall Gloria Kopp too. In that instance too, it was dithering by the various agencies which led to prolonged inaction. ``The authorities should take action so that the various litigants sit together and sort out the issues. Otherwise, it is possible that this ship also goes down,'' a merchant navy officer said.

The ship, registered in Panama, was sold at an auction in July 2000. ``In the first auction, global tenders were not called for. So a second auction was called for. The ship fetched Rs. 18.75 crores,'' said the spokesperson.

The suspicious ship, which was anchored off the Pondicherry coast from December 12 to 22, 1999, was first noticed by the Customs which tipped off the Coast Guard whose personnel apprehended the ship after a sea chase. A joint investigation team including officials from Coast Guard, Customs, the police, the Narcotics Control Bureau was set up, but it has not made much headway into why the ship had anchored off the Pondicherry coast.

``As far as we are concerned, we apprehended the ship and handed it over to the authorities here. From then on the civil administration takes over,'' said Commodore R.S.Vasan, Coast Guard eastern region chief .

Commenting on the possibility of the ship sinking in the harbour, he said the issue had to be looked into. ``There have been instances of ships sinking in harbour. These have been salvaged. But it means that you lose the berth and spend money in the process.''

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Section  : Southern States
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