KOCHI: The officers of various law enforcement agencies on Monday entered the merchant vessel Amber L to probe the incident in which the ship hit the fishing boat Carmel Matha off Kochi coast resulting in the death of two fishermen early on Sunday. The body of Antony John alias Thambi Durai was handed over to the relatives after post-mortem at General Hospital here on Monday in the presence of the police surgeon. They took it to their native place Kolachal. The body of Assam native Rahul Das is kept at the hospital after post-mortem. It will be taken to Assam by air from Nedumbassery airport on Tuesday.
An official of the Ernakulam district administration said that the search for Assam native Motti Das, the missing fishermen, continued on Monday also. The search resumed at 5 a.m. after it was stopped on Sunday night. It is being undertaken by the personnel from Marine Enforcement Wing, Navy and Coast Guard using their boats, helicopters and divers. At present, the ship is at the anchorage off Cochin Port within port limits after completing bunker operations. A Cochin Port Trust official said that the port had denied permission to the vessel to sail out from the anchorage and had asked the enforcement agencies to ensure that it did not leave the port. He said that the Cochin Port was facilitating the inquiry by DG Shipping and Coastal Police by providing Cochin Port’s pilot boat.
“The Cochin Port Trust has arranged two pilot boats to transport the officials from Police, Customs, Immigration, DG (Shipping) and Coast Guard for carrying out an inquiry on board the vessel The officials entered the ship by 10 a.m. today (Monday) and carried out their inquiry proceedings. As Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) wanted another technician on board, he was also transported to the ship in the afternoon. The members from the Immigration and Customs completed their inquiries and returned to the shore by 4.30 p.m. Other officials are continuing their verification,” the CPT official said on Monday evening.
Fuel shortage lands villain ship in custody
The mystery how the villain ship MV Amber L landed in the custody of enforcement agencies unraveled a day after the accident on Monday. Had it not come for refueling at the bunkering terminal of Cochin Port, it would have escaped the eyes of the marine law enforcement agencies. “In fact the accident took place as the ship headed towards the bunkering terminal off Kochi coast for refueling. It is not clear whether the ship crew were unaware of the accident. In any case they had to approach the terminal as they were short of fuel,” said a senior police official.
The ship is learnt to have reached the bunkering terminal around 8 am on Sunday and completed refueling by 11.30 am by when the marine law enforcement agencies including Coast Guard and Coastal Police could locate it and detain it. The enforcement officials are learnt to have seized the voyage data recorder, log book and movement registry of the ship to identify the route, speed and direction of the ship when the accident took place. Examination of these devices and documents are crucial in identifying the finer details of the accident. Officials also said that forensic examination of the data will be done. It is learnt that Coastal Police are mulling arrests based on evidence.
