A police van outside Cochin Shipyard, where a blast occurred in an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) tanker that was under maintainance. PTIKochi: As officials try to find the cause behind a fatal blast onboard an ONGC ship at Cochin Shipyard, reports suggest that the efficiency of the vessel was below par.
The Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) apparently had decided last year to scrap Sagar Bhushan, its drillship on which five people died after a blast this week, because of its poor efficiency.
The India-made vessel’s seaworthiness certificate too had expired in 2017 September, but the state-run oil explorer didn’t go ahead with the scrapping fearing controversy.
Since two drillships that operate under contract for ONGC are older than Sagar Bhushan, officials believed dismantling one of its own vessels could invite criticism.
The ship was at the Cochin Shipyard for an overhaul before seeking a fresh seaworthiness certificate for five years.
Built in 1987, Sagar Bhushan is made of locally sourced material and equipment. It was modeled on the lines of another ONGC drillship, Sagar Vijay, acquired from Japan. But the locally made vessel failed to meet the standards of the foreign one.
In the last six months, Sagar Bhushan could drill only up to 200 meters. It also often needed repairs.
It had an overhaul in Kochi 10 years ago, but the last major repairs five years ago were carried out at Visakhapatnam.
Though the ship has its own propellers, it was towed to Kochi from the Andhra coast last December due to engine problems. The journey took 12 days.
The overhaul was initially expected to cost Rs 150 crore, but the contract given to the Cochin Shipyard was for less than Rs 100 crore.
Besides Sagar Vijay and Sagar Bhushan, ONGC owns seven shallow-water jack-up rigs.
The company has another 10 drillships and 20 jack-up rigs on contract.
Of the drillships on contract, one is made in 1974 and another in 1977. Even though these are older than Sagar Bhushan, they are seen as more efficient in drilling operations.
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