KARACHI, Aug 20: Federal Minister for Communications Ahmad Ali has expressed the view that possible environmental hazards which entailed the grounding of the oil tanker Tasman Spirit were ignored initially by salvagers.

In his brief chat with Dawn after a press conference at the PNSC here on Wednesday, he said that the salvagers appointed by the owners of the cargo ship at the beginning of their operation had failed to take measures to mitigate any adverse impact of oil emission from the cargo tank.

“It was only after revelation that crude oil had started reaching the beach and affecting the coastal ecosystem and human life, they initiated remedial measures.” In a typical monsoon weather, perhaps the top priority before the salvage experts was to keep shipping activities and routine traffic in the harbour channel and port vicinity intact, which they did successfully, he added.

Earlier, speaking at a press conference, the minister maintained that he did not see the KPT officials at any fault in the handling of the vessel. The ship ran aground on July 27 and its Maltese owners entered into an agreement with the salvage team the next day. Since then, the KPT had been playing only a supportive role in the affair, the minister said.

Replying to a question, Mr Ahmad Ali said that it was not in his knowledge that any official had submitted a report on the Tasman Spirit’s movement suggesting the authorities not to charter the allegedly ‘ill-reputed’ vessel. The minister pointed out that the ship possessed all the required certifications and was allowed to continue its voyage after getting oil loaded from Iran without any adverse remarks on its documents.

Referring to the ship’s running aground, the minister declared: “It was result of a human error.”

In the meantime, an inquiry committee headed by the Director General of Ports and Shipping has started investigations into the mishap. He said that he always looked positively on things and that his ministry was ready to face any damage suit filed by any quarter.

Briefing newsmen about the lighterage operations which recommenced on Aug 17, he said that in view of the bad weather and poor visibility, the salvage ship Fair Jolly had been withdrawn from oil transferring process for the time being.

He said that the Fair Jolly, in her second trip, had extracted about 4,000 tons of oil for its onward transfer to Endeavour-II, another big oil tanker. Two barges deployed for shifting the oil were, according to Mr Ali, operating smoothly.

Regarding spillage, he said that sounding process to assess the storage position in different tanks of the ship was still on and, as such, he was not in position to give any exact figure pertaining to the quantity of oil spillage. He, however, revealed for the first time that approximately about 12,000 to 15,000 tons of oil had spilled so far.

He said that the water in off-shore area beyond four nautical miles had escaped the slick and was safe. He admitted that the bay area was affected by the spillage.

Present on the occasion, the newly-appointed Director General of Port and Shipping, Capt Anwar Shah, said that it was premature for him to comment.

Apparently, I do not see anything wrong in the chartering of old vessel by the PNSC for the transportation of crude oil as it depended mostly on international certifications.

Later, talking to Dawn, he clarified that he had been asked to take over as new DG and by virtue of that he was still to perform as investigation officer. He maintained that prior to his posting, the PNSC chairman, Vice-Admiral Tanvir Naqvi, was also performing as the DG Ports and Shipping under whose leadership, Director Shipping and Principal Officer of Merchant Marine department Capt Salim Baloch had been working on the investigation side.

He agreed that in a situation where there was no official notification or terms-of-reference (TOR) issued with regard to the inquiry into the mishap involving the Tasman Spirit, it could be said that the official inquiry, announced a week back, was yet to be launched. However, he added that in absence of any TOR, he could proceed in the light of Pakistan Merchant Shipping Ordinance-2001.