Solis

The authorities have completed inspections of the 'Solis', which was taken into custody after the collision with the trawler 'St Joseph', anchored in deep sea for fishing. Officials of the Director General of Shipping (DG Shipping) examined the ship after it was brought from the accident site 57 nautical miles from Muttom harbour in Tamil Nadu.waters to Vizhinjam and directed the captain not to leave the country without permission. The vessel had been escorted from the accident site to Vizhinjam by the Coast Guard ship 'Anagh'. The inspection was carried out by Chief Surveyor Captain Shenoy of the Mercantile Marine Department along with other officials. The team boarded the ship and conducted a detailed inspection, examining both the bow and stern (of the vessel. They found that the paint on the bow of the ship had peeled off completely, indicating the impact area. THe investigators have also examined the CCTV cameras installed on the ship as part of the probe. Representatives of the vessel and insurance officials who arrived earlier. visited the ship. They later handed over the confidential code of the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) to the Chief Surveyor, Captain Shenoy, who also sought detailed information about the circumstances of the accident from 20 crew members, including the captain of the 'Solis', which remained moored in pos. 08° 22' N 076° 58' E as of March 13.

The Indian authorities launched an enforcement action against the captain of the 'Solis' after it hit and sank the fishing boat 'St. Joseph', citing negligent operations of the tanker, which had arrived from Oman and was departing from the port of Neendakara in the state of Kerala, on March 7 at 2.30 p.m. LT. The tanker was approximately 70 nautical miles from Vizhinjam when it collided with the fishing trawler, which had 11 crewmembers aboard. Nine of them were rescued and brought to shore by the Indian Coast Guard, while two fishermen were reported missing. The trawler sank following the collision. One of the fishermen suffered a fractured back, and another also suffered serious injuries. A case was registered in an Indian court on March 8 against the captain of the tanker, alleging a “defective and negligent” manner of operation, endangering human life. The Director General of Shipping on March 9 reported that the tanker has also been taken into custody. It was escorted at midday to an anchorage off Vizhimjam. A team of officials, including the Chief Surveyor from the Department of Shipping, boarded the tanker and began a preliminary investigation. A second team from the Mercantile Marine Department boarded the vessel on March 10 for a further inspection. They reported that they would be taking statements from the 20 crew -members. The 'Solis' was moored in pos. 08° 22' N 076° 58' E as of March 12.

The Vizhinjam Coastal Police have registered a case against the captain of the 'Solis', which was in collision with the f/v 'St. Joseph' on March 7 at 1.45 p.m., which had gone fishing towards the Kanyakumari side from Neendakara in Kollam, about 57 nautical miles from Muttom harbour in Kanyakumari.There were 11 fishermen on board: Vasudev Das (42), Viplav Das (32), Rippon Das (38), Vikram Das), Vimal Das (48), Badal Das (23) and Lakhman Das (45), all from West Bengal, and Vinod (34), Johnson (47), Benedict (43) and Baiju (38) from Tamil Nadu. Nine of them were rescued with injuries, while two fishermen, Badal Das (23) and Lakhman Das (45), both natives of West Bengal, are missing. Baiju (38), the skipper of the boat, sustained a spinal injury, while another fisherman, Vimal Das (48), suffered serious injuries. The others also sustained minor injuries. The complainant, Rajesh Mathew, said that the collision caused the boat to sink with a financial loss of around ₹1.5 crore. The case wasregistered under sections 282 (rash or negligent navigation of a vessel ), 125(a) (penalises anyone who carelessly endangers human life or safety), 125(b), and 324 (intentionally causing wrongful loss or damage to public or private property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for navigating the vessel in a negligent manner that endangered human life. Since the accident occurred within Tamil Nadu waters, the case will be transferred there for further proceedings. The 'Solis'has been taken into custody by officials of the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) and taken to the outer sea off Vizhinjam on March 9 at around 12 p.m. A team of officials, including the Chief Surveyor of DG Shipping who arrived from Kochi, boarded the ship and conducted a preliminary survey. Officials of the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), Mumbai, arrived on the morning of March 10 for further inspection. Preliminary findings indicated that the accident occurred near an international shipping lane. To confirm this, statements were to be collected from the 20 crew members, including the captain. Report with photo: https://english.mathrubhumi.com/amp/news/kerala/panama-ship-that-rammed-fishing-boat-off-kerala-coast-taken-into-custody-brought-to-vizhinjam-l5yzeh9t