Centre asks CBI to probe Black Rose sinking

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Bhubaneswar: Union ministry of shipping has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the sinking of the iron ore-laden Mongolian ship MV Black Rose off Paradip coast September 9, 2009 that killed one and left several others injured. The chief engineer of the ship, a Ukrainian, had died in the mishap while other crew members had been rescued.
Sources said Shankar Choudhury, under secretary, ministry of shipping, has written a letter to CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma to find out the reasons behind the sinking of the vessel.
Nine years after the mishap, mystery still shrouded the sinking of the ship. Recently, the port authorities wrote a letter to the ministry seeking acceleration of the probe. Along with the letter, the port authorities had also furnished supporting evidence to the ministry.
The ministry’s decision follows a representation by two PPT members, Pratap Mishra and Bhuban Mohan Jena asking the Board to seek an inquiry by the central agency into the incident. Then the Board sent the representation to the ministry.
One of the trustees, through the letter, urged Union minister for petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan to initiate a CBI probe into the mishap. Subsequently, Pradhan asked the ministry of shipping to seek a CBI probe. No conclusive report on the causes of the sinking of the ship has come out yet even though many investigating teams engaged by various government agencies have probed the event all these years.
The agencies that probed the mishap included Mercantile Marine Department of the Centre, the National Shipping Board, the Odisha Crime Branch and the district administration.
The Mangolian ship had a load of around 23,843 tonnes of iron ores and 947 metric tonnes of inflammable furnace oil. The sinking resulted in the mixing of 47 metric tonnes of diesel in water that raised the hackles of green activists. Despite their losses, owners of the ship didn’t turn up to claim the assets that added fuel to the suspense theory.