Government sets up high level panel to probe fire incident at Vishakhapatnam port

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on Friday set up a high-level committee headed by Chennai Port Chairman Sunil Paliwal to investigate the fire incident at Vizag General Cargo berth at Vishakhapatnam major port on May 30.

The panel will also examine the fire safety practices at all major ports, suggest corrective actions and monitor the implementation of corrective actions of all major ports.

For investigating the cause of the fire, an in-house committee was constituted by Vishakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA). The panel submitted its report on June 1. "The report reflects that in-depth analysis did not take place. Therefore, it has been decided with the approval of the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to constitute a committee to further examine the issue," the ministry said in an order.

According to the order, Paliwal will head the committee.

RS Chaudhari (Director of the National Fire Service College, Nagpur), Arun Mittal (ED at Oil Industry Safety Directorate, Noida), Lalit Gabhane (DG of National Safety Council of India, Mumbai) and AK Bose (Deputy Chairman of Paradip Port) will be the other members of the panel. The committee will look into all the aspects related to the fire incident.                  

As per the order, the panel shall submit a detailed report to the ministry within two months. It is pertinent to mention that such incidents cause disruption in the supply chain and ships may have to wait for a longer time for berthing, leading to substantial loss towards payment of demurrage charges to ships by the logistic players.