Operations to keep MV Lucky Seven afloat begin | Centre for Responsible Tourism, Goa

Kanda must be asked to pay for the damage this is causing to the environment. He thought he was above the law and above the judiciary. The judiciary buckled down to political pressure and now this is the price we have to pay

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/operations-to-keep-mv-lucky-seven-afloat-begin/articleshow/59763491.cms

Nine days after it grounded at the Miramar beach, operations to keep MV Lucky Seven afloat commenced on Tuesday. The salvage team prepares to tow it away by the weekend.

A special excavator was moved into place on Tuesday on the vessel’s aft side, facing the sea, to dig out an inlet for water. The excavator is designed to carry out work in water as well as on land during high and low tide, as required.

“The roughly one-metre-deep channel helps to keep the ship afloat and prevents it from breaking up under its own weight,” an official said.

The grounded vessel can also keep sinking under its own weight, but the excavator continues shovelling out sand to import water on its sides. Two huge mounds of sand could be seen on Tuesday evening. Another machine is likely to arrive soon to maintain the operation to keep it afloat.

The impact of the vessel’s presence as an obstruction to waves washing ashore has caused erosion along a roughly 100m stretch on the ship’s southern side.

The vessel hit the sandbar on the mouth of the Mandovi river after it was being brought in to be used as a casino, despite warnings by ports administration department about the shallow depth.

Consultant with the Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB), Jose D’Souza, had drawn the board’s attention to a move to get the vessel in the Mandovi river.

While the matter was part of a petition before the high court of Bombay at Goa, D’Souza had urged the board to intervene in the petition and inform the court that GSPCB has to be approached for necessary consent and approvals.

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