Norwegian ship leaves Indian officials all at sea

MUMBAI: Car chases are routine in the movies. Ship chases aren���t. This is why the drama unfolding on the high seas off Mumbai, just beyond the territorial waters of India, has all the elements of a thriller.
The story began unfolding last week when Crystal Sea, owned by Norwegian drilling rig contractor Seadrill, sought permission from the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) to clean its tank.MbPT agreed and the ship was moved out of the "inner anchorage" area for three days. But instead of returning to the anchorage on January 22, it sneaked out of Indian waters and was last spotted charting a new course somewhere in the Gulf of Oman.
In the bargain, the vessel breached its contractual obligations and defied Indian laws. Furious officials are now trying their best to arrest the ship.
"We have written to all ports in the Persian Gulf about the incident, asking them to intimate us whenever this vessels visits them," an official from theDirectorate General of Shipping told TOI.
The vessel found its way into Indian waters when a subsidiary of Jindal Drilling hired it for a five-year period beginning mid-2006. It was meant to be deployed on a contract with oil and gas major ONGC. On its part, ONGC had paid $12 million in customs duties for getting the vessel into India. But in May 2006, the vessel developed a ���hose��� failure. Since then, it was berthed at MbPT because it takes anywhere between 12-18 months to get a new hose. Sources said that Seadrill was uncomfortable with the idea of waiting so long and surreptitously got a contractor to fix the hose and got out.
Officials in the shipping business say such incidents are now becoming commonplace. "Many foreign ships come in and get out of Indian waters without seeking permissions. Indian ships on the other hand do heaps of paper work just to get the clearances," said the head of a shipping company. They attribute it to the fact that under Indian laws, before a ship sets sail, it needs to be cleared by the port authorities, the DG of shipping, and finally the customs department.
Alf Thorkildsen, CEO of Seadrill, downplayed the incident. He called it a "normal dispute" in relation to the cancellation of a contract and promised to sort it out with Indian officials. As for ONGC, the company says it will get a refund on the duty it paid because the vessel was not utilised by it.