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 license 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.