The Hindu Business Line : Spotlight on safety

When it bagged the Rs 127-crore offshore contract from ONGC in June, Sical Logistics would never have anticipated that it would be in for a spell of bad times. On July 9, just four days after it took delivery, Samudrika-10, one of t he offshore supply vessels of ONGC, sank off the Mumbai coast, killing its master and seven of the crew members. An immediate enquiry found that Sical was operating the vessel without a valid safety management certificate — a serious offence under the marine safety management code.

The Directorate-General of Shipping swung into action. It cancelled the DOC (documents of compliance — a sort of licence given to a company for operating ships) of Sical and another Delhi-based company, HAL Offshore. Both had won the ONGC tender for maintenance and operation of around 30 offshore supply vessels owned by ONGC.

In a more drastic action, the Directorate summoned 27 offshore supply vessels —16 under contract with Sical and 11 with HAL for inspection and safety audit.

Violation of safety norms

“Prima facie evidence shows that the operators of ONGC’s supply vessels have violated safety norms,” said Ms Kiran Dhingra, Director-General of Shipping. “We have called back the vessels for audit and inspect ion as many of them do not have the statutory safety management certificate (SMC),” she said. “Once the investigations are over, we will decide on the action to be taken against those found guilty of violating the safety laws,” Ms Dhingra said.

The Chennai-based logistics company is an experienced offshore operator. This was the second contract it had bagged from ONGC. Under the previous one, Sical managed and operated 15 ONGC offshore supply vessels.

If the talks in the shipping circles are anything to go by, Sical started operating the vessels immediately after it took over from SCI, the former contractor of ONGC, without going for the statutory safety clearance. It is also alleged that the company was under pressure from ONGC for starting the operation without delay. “That is certainly not an excuse for violating safety norms”, said an official with the Directorate-General of Shipping.

“Sical is not alone. HAL Offshore also did the same thing. There is something wrong with the way ONGC has been operating these vessels,” the official said.

ONGC owns the vessels and they are being operated for its own service; the private parties are only managing them. So it is also the responsibility of ONGC to ensure that its offshore supply vessels are maintained well, said the official.

ONGC is now short of 27 offshore supply vessels until they are released after safety audit. It may find it difficult to maintain its offshore support service as it may take some time before the vessels are back in service.

“I cannot say how may days it would take to complete inspections of all these ships. We have sought the help of the Indian Register of Shipping to speed up the inspection. We will release the vessels as soon as we can,” said Mr Ajoy Chatterjee, Chief Surveyor of India at the Directorate-General of Shipping.

“We will not allow any compromise when it comes to safety of life at sea. We have taken a serious view of the way these offshore supply vessels are being operated” (without safety management certificates),” said Mr Chatterjee.

‘No impact on production’

ONGG says recalling of offshore supply vessels will not have any impact on its offshore oil production. “We have a well-organised monsoon contingency plan to meet any emergencies due to supply disruption caused by prolonged bad weather,” said a spokesperson. Production of Bombay High is currently at 2,51,000 barrels of oil per day. However, production, in general, cannot be steady during monsoon, ONGC said in a statement. Samudrika-10 may soon be part of offshore history.

Whatever action the authorities take against the guilty, business would be as usual soon for ONGC and its management contractors. That is the way the system works in this country. Who cares for the safety of human life?

Related Stories:
ONGC vessel sinks, 4 missing

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