Ruptured ONGC pipe spills 80 tonnes of oil in high seas

An Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) under-water pipeline carrying crude oil ruptured, spilling an estimated 70 to 80 tonnes of oil on the high seas, on Friday morning, said a Coast Guard official.

Briefing the media persons, Coast Guard, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Mukesh Purohit, said, "At 8.45am, around 80 kms away from the Maharashtra coast, a part of the under- water pipe line between production platform and processing platform (Main Uran Trunk line) had ruptured, leading to spillage of crude oil. ICG Dornier aircraft Ex- Daman, estimated a spill of 70 to 80 tonnes of oil." "We have launched operation, 'Paryavaran Suraksha' at around 9.50am, by inducting ICG Dornier aircraft ex- Daman, Pollution Control Vessel (PCV) Samudra Prahari, ship ICGS Sangram and S. K. Chauhan, interceptor boat C- 145, helicopter Chetak and TC- 3 Bucket, for combating Oil Pollution.

The pipeline had a diameter of 24 inches and was 20 to 25 meters deep inside the water. The leakage left a thick patch of oil over an area of 1x1 nautical miles and patches covering an area of 4x4 nautical miles. Till 4.00 pm, due to scorching sun and weak wind movement, our operations neutralised 1/ 3 percentage of the oil spill. Whilst, the entire oil spill can not be cleaned, our efforts to minimise the damage may take another four days." Purohit said the Directorate General Shipping has sent a notice to the ONGC stating that the entire cost of the damage control due to the oil spill will be reimbursed by ONGC. ONGC officials have sent their divers to fix the ruptured pipeline and check the entire flow of pipeline by passing water through it, before restarting the flow of oil.

This oil spill shall not pose a threat to the Maharashtra coast for nearly 90 days, so fishermen can heave a sigh of relief. Also, there is very little possibility that the remains of the oil spill may disturb our coast after three months, according to Purohit.