The Hindu Business Line : Petronet's jetty at Dahej damaged in accident

STRONG winds rammed a tugboat into the jetty of Petronet LNG Ltd at Dahej in Gujarat, causing damage to structures that hold vessels in position while unloading liquefied gas.

The accident occurred on Saturday when the company's LNG carrier, Disha, was casting off. Strong winds of over 40 knots caused a tugboat to hit the `breasting dolphin' piles of the jetty.

GAIL (India) Ltd informed the BSE on Monday that Petronet was evaluating the extent of the damage and working out immediate counter measures.

"Plans are also afoot to divert cargo expected on September 21, 2005 to Shell's Hazira LNG terminal and maintain supply," GAIL, the marketer and transporter of LNG from the Petronet terminal, told the BSE.

The company has also drawn up a contingency plan to maintain supply of natural gas to its customers using the available stock of LNG at Dahej terminal.

In order to reduce the impact of the shortage of supply on customers caused by the accident, the company has requested ONGC and PMT JV to augment their supplies.

The Petronet Managing Director, Mr Prosad Dasgupta, said that the damage was not so great as to disrupt the unloading activities of the terminal.

"The next vessel is expected on September 21 and we are confident that we would be able to receive it at Dahej itself. There should be no need to take Shell's help to offload the cargo at Hazira," Mr Dasgupta told Business Line.

The breasting dolphins are structures on which the fenders of the vessel are mounted in order to avoid the ship from touching the concrete jetty. Out of 28 piles that support four such fenders, three have been damaged.

"These structures are always designed in such a manner that they have surplus capacity available. Damage to three piles does not mean that the structure is incapacitated. There is no damage to the jetty anyway," Mr Dasgupta said.

Both Petronet and Gail stocks stayed flat on the BSE on Monday, closing at Rs 56.60 and Rs 264 respectively.

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