Mumbai, Aug 8 (IANS) Indian defence and maritime authorities Monday said the oil flow from the sunken ship Rak Carrier has decreased, compared to a day earlier.


According to a statement by the ministry of defence here, the rate of oil spill has reduced to around 1 tonne per hour, as compared to 1.5-2 tonnes per hour Sunday.

This has been confirmed by an hour-long aerial recce of the oil spill area in the Arabian Sea off south Mumbai conducted by the Indian Coast Guard Monday morning.

A defence spokesman said the oil slick is visibly thin and can be seen as a broken silvery sheen extending upto two miles from the site where the cargo carrier sank Thursday afternoon.

However, some oil patches have also been sighted as far as 12 nautical miles from the sunken vessel.

Two coast guard ships, Samudra Prahari and Sankalp, are engaged in pollution response operations and another ship, Amrit Kaur, has also been deployed Monday.

The ships are supported by an Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, which has been deployed at Daman.

Three coast guard teams, comprising 30 personnel, are assisting the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and other authorities in identifying and analysing the areas affected by the oil spill.

The ship MT Rak Carrier, laden with 60,000 tonnes of coal and 340 tonnes of fuel and diesel, sank Thursday afternoon, raising apprehensions of an ecological hazard.

The 30 crewmen aboard -- all Indonesians, Jordanians and Romanians -- were rescued in a coordinated effort by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

The Panama-flagged ship, owned and managed by M/s. Delta Shipping Marine Services, Qatar, was on a voyage from Lubuk-Tutung in Indonesia to Dahej port in Gujarat, carrying a consignment of coal meant for Adani Enterprises Ltd.

Two top officials of the cargo vessel were Saturday arrested and later released on bail by a Mumbai court.

The duo -- Jordanian Capt. Arkan Younis, 36, and Romanian chief engineer Eonascho Eon, 54 -- were nabbed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 336, pertaining to endangering life or personal safety of others.