The government of the Indian state of Goa is set to award a Netherlands-based salvage company a Rs 25 crore (US$3.4 million) contract for the removal of a tanker that ran aground off Dona Paula with a cargo of highly flammable chemicals in late October of this year.
State chief minister Pramod Sawant said that Marine Masters was one of only two companies that had submitted bids to conduct the salvage work on the beached product tanker Nu Shi Nalini. Singapore-based Smit Salvage withdrew its bid on Tuesday, November 12, leaving Marine Masters the only available company for the salvage operations.
India's Resolve Salvage and Fire had also been invited to participate in the tender but did not submit any bid.
The salvage work is expected to last 30 days with the offloading of the tanker's cargo of 3,000 tonnes of naphtha expected to take 10 to 12 days.
Strong winds and rough waves brought about by Tropical Cyclone Kyarr on October 24 caused Nu Shi Nalini to drift from the anchorage off the Port of Mormugao until it ended up aground near Dona Paula.
Bad weather has continually hampered efforts to refloat the grounded tanker and offload its hazardous cargo.