KARACHI: Two feared drowned as boat hits sunken ship
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, June 9: Two fishermen were feared drowned while four others managed to swim to safety on Monday when their fishing boat smashed to pieces after hitting the remaining parts of a cargo ship that had run aground at the Clifton beach in 1979.
A huge wave smashed the medium-sized fishing boat, which had originally been stationary carrying six fishermen engaged in fishing.
Tayyab, Bashir, Saifullah, and Yaqoob swam to safety while Javed and Moosa were feared drowned.
A large number of fatalities can be avoided at this particular patch of the Clifton beach if the authorities concerned remove the remaining parts of the Polish vessel M.V. Traugatt that had run aground on June 19, 1979.
The remaining parts of the ship pose a great threat to the people swimming in the sea off the Clifton beach.
According to the Edhi Foundation, on Aug 14, 1999, 18 persons had drowned off the Clifton beach. Most of the deaths were because of the remaining parts of the ship.
In 2000, three youths of a family residing in Garden had drowned as they were thrown underneath the parts of the ship by a wave.
Even from the time M.V. Traugatt ran aground till it was sold for scraping, during a span of a year, as many as 30 people had died due to the presence of the ship parts.
On Aug 15, 1980, nine youths were swept away by waves, several of them had died when they smashed against the vessel.
A number of people throng the Clifton beach despite a ban during the high-tide season.
Most of the people who visit the seaside are amateurs and strong waves generated during this high-tide season could smash them against the remains of the ship, said an Edhi volunteer.
The ship’s remaining parts are located behind Sindbad where a large number of people come to the beach.
In this connection, the Edhi Foundation sent a letter to the city Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, on June 3, 2003, drawing his attention to the remaining parts of the ship and the fact that they pose a potential hazard to the general public, chief volunteer Karachi Rizwan Edhi told Dawn.
Similar letters were also dispatched to the Saddar town Nazim, Farooq Fariya, on Jan 18, 2002, by the Edhi Foundation.
Besides, a similar letter dated March 22, 2000 was sent to the former commissioner of Karachi, drawing his attention towards the issue.
As compared to the rest of the beaches in the country, the Clifton beach is relatively safe and only a few people drown at the beach.
However, the ship’s remains buried at the beach has claimed a number of lives on different occasions but the city administration is yet to take action over the issue, said Ali Ahmed, a frequent visitor to the beach.
While over the years nearly the entire structure of the ship has been broken down bit by bit, the ship’s bottom remains intact at the beach.
The Polish ship M.V. Traugatt had caught fire at the port on June 18, 1979 and finally ran aground at the Clifton beach the next day June 19, 1979.
It was reported that people started visiting the site to have a look at the vessel.
The ship was carrying 8,000 tonnes of general cargo and 200 tonnes of calcium carbide which caught fire because of heat generated in the ship’s hold, it was reported at that time.
The ship owners had claimed damages of Rs130 million from the Karachi Port Trust for what they had alleged to be the negligence of the port authorities.
The KPT had also made a counter claim of Rs800,000 as salvage money from the ship owners.
KARACHI, June 9: Two fishermen were feared drowned while four others managed to swim to safety on Monday when their fishing boat smashed to pieces after hitting the remaining parts of a cargo ship that had run aground at the Clifton beach in 1979.
