How Indian Coast Guard stopped 9,000MT of palm oil falling from tanker 'Sea Gull 9' into Bay of Bengal

The Indian Coast Guard on Sunday rescued an unstable chemical tanker Sea Gull 9 (IMO: 9175092) from the Bay of Bengal in the nick of time, preventing what may have been a major catastrophe at sea.

Located about 37 nautical miles off Odisha's Paradip, the Belize-flagged ship had issued a critical distress call at 7:30 AM on Sunday after a series of issues onboard left it unstable.

If rescue efforts had been delayed, the ship's 23 crew members would have been in danger, while the 9,000 metric tonnes (MT) of palm oil that it had been carrying—from the Port of Kuching in Malaysia—would have fallen into the Bay of Bengal, causing a major ecological disaster, an ANI report noted on Monday.

The Belize-flagged ship had suffered main engine failure, which kept it stuck, while water rapidly entered one of its ballast tanks, due to which it began listing (tilting to one side) dangerously.

However, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) quickly dispatched the ICGS Vishwast, which rushed to the spot and deployed a specialist damage control team onto the ship under challenging conditions.

This team utilised submersible pumps, de-flooded the ballast tanks, and sealed damaged sea-pipelines to stabilise the tilting vessel.

"​To augment pollution response & continuous surveillance, an ICG Pollution Control Vessel & Offshore Patrol Vessel were also diverted to scene. ICG Dornier aircraft confirmed the minor palm oil sheen has completely dissipated," the ICG wrote in an X post on Monday.

The Dolphin, a tug from the Paradip Port, later took the stabilised Sea Gull 9 under tow towards an anchorage area off the port.

Repairs to the main engine are now underway, with assistance from the technical team of the ICGS Vishwast.