Another incident of sunken ship –threat for marine life.

Environmentalist  were hard at work on 23^rd June to contain the environmental impact from the sinking of a Cyprus-flagged vessel, about 1.2 nautical miles off Sultan Qaboos Port,Oman  in which the captain of the ship died but rescuers saved the other nine Indian sailors.

Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs has formed a team of environmental experts to monitor the impact of the cargo spill from the ship.  Ship called Nissar 3 was carrying 816 tonnes of bitumen. The cargo was seen floating along the coast at Sifah Beach, about 40km east of Muscat. Oman is seeking help from private companies involved in fighting marine pollution and also .

Oman must take measures to contain pollution caused by this cargo [bitumen] spill otherwise it could be dangerous for marine animals and also the  residents in surrounding area.

Bitumen is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product. The primary use of bitumen is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete.

The captain of the ship had sent an SOS to the Sultan Qaboos Port control tower that seawater was gushing inside the vessel and they had no facility to pump it out. The port authorities promptly rushed two tugboats but by that time the Cyprus-flagged ship had gone down and, along with the ship, the Iranian captain. His body was recovered 24 hours after the Cyprus-flagged cargo vessel sank on Wednesday.  However, the Coast Guards managed to rescue nine Indian sailors and took them to the Royal Oman Police Hospital for treatment.

The marine life as well as the desalination plants could face a threat from the spilled bitumen ..