20120515 India Andamans ship catches fire in repair docks
India May 14 2012 “Shipboard”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Andamans ship catches fire in repair docks
Updated: 2012-05-16-05:13
KOLKATA: A fire broke out on a passenger liner berthed at the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) of Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) on Tuesday afternoon. Nobody was injured in the fire that started around 12.50pm in a stationery store room and spread to some cabins close to it.
Two fire tenders of KoPT and the West Bengal Fire Services Department and a floating one brought the blaze under control by 1.30pm, officials said.
MV Harsha-Vardhana, a ship owned by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) Ltd, which plies between Kolkata and Port Blair in the Andamans, was berthed at No. 3 Kidderpore Docks for the last 18 days for routine repairs. Apart from some repair staff and a few members of the ship’s crew, there was nobody on board when smoke was detected on Tuesday afternoon.
“It seems that the fire started due to an electrical short-circuit on the ship. There were no passenger on board as the ship was berthed for repairs. The fire wasn’t a major one and was brought under control soon,” said Manish Jain, chairman, KoPT.
According to the SCI, the actual damage is yet to be ascertained. “Even after the fire was brought under control, there was a lot of smoke. There was certainly some damage but we haven’t yet assessed it. The repairs were nearly complete and the ship was almost ready to sail after clearance from the directorate general (shipping). Now, an inspection will have to be carried out to find out what repairs will be required further,” said SCI official Sajal Biswas.
The Times of India