In Shipping, Some Things Never Change - Clay Maitland's Soapbox

By Clay Maitland

Maritime history buffs may remember the story of the Marie Celeste, a sailing ship found abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean, which seemingly had managed to sail for months without reaching land, and whose crew were mysteriously absent.  To this day, her mystinery remains the subject of speculation.

And so, on August 4, we are confronted with a modern version of the same story, reported from India.  The Pavit, a tanker supposedly registered in Panama, is said to have run aground near Juhu on the west coast of India. It appears -- though reports are somewhat sketchy, as they always are -- that the Pavit drifted between 800 and 900 nautical miles after being abandoned, for some reason, off the coast of Oman.  It appears that the Pavit drifted for about two weeks following the alleged abandonment, and at some point was "reported sunk".

Imagine the surprise of the Indian authorities, including the Ministry of Defence, when the Pavit turned up. A Directorate-General of Shipping inquiry has reportedly been convened to determine how the Pavit, without a crew, was able to penetrate the supposed security layers of the Indian Marine Police, the Coast Guard, and the Navy, and be undetected until it ran aground. There are a few red faces in Mumbai and Delhi, particularly in light of the heightened security that has supposedly been in effect since the deadly attack of terrorists, from the sea, in Mumbai several years ago.  Not surprisingly, the vessel does not have in place protection and liability (P&I) cover.  It is not known how much oil remains aboard the vessel.

While all of this does not speak well of India's "maritime domain awareness", as the Coast Guard puts it, there is some doubt as to whether nations bordering on other oceans are in fact better prepared than India appears to be. Admiral Verma, the Chief of the Indian Naval Staff, has called for an investigation of why the vessel's Automatic Identification System (AIS) did not alert shore-based authorities as to its location, and approach to the coast.  Another question relates to the efficiency of shore-based radar.

The vulnerability of coastal areas, other than ports, to stealth attacks remains full of unanswered questions.  It is hoped that after the authorities (outside of India) stop laughing at what happened, the shortcomings of AIS, in particular, will get a closer look from the IMO and the various military authorities that are supposedly in charge of security along out coasts. 

To read more at Clay Maitland's blog, click here.

MarEx does not necessarily endorse any opinions herein.