River Princess, which ran aground the Sinquerim shoreline nearly 12 years ago on June 6, 2000, has finally disappeared as its removal was completed last month.
Arihant Ship Breakers, which had bagged the contract for cutting and removing the massive vessel from the beach, had begun the project three months back. “The officials in its report on May 24 confirmed completion of the project. We will verify the claim before submitting a detailed report to the state government,” Tourism Director Swapnil Naik told reporters. The government had made arrangements for unloading the scrap at Britona jetty, which went through a brief hiccup over customs duty but it was resolved subsequently.
Over 56 technical staff members, another group of 50 workers, and specialist undersea cutters and divers from Mumbai had joined the operations. The entire exercise was video-recorded, Naik said. The National Institute of Oceanography will conduct a survey of the beach stretch and the waters where the ship was grounded off.
Courtesy: indiablooms
