Unloading of crude oil starts from tanker with Pak crew

Kendrapada: A day after 21 Pakistani crew members of Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker were denied permission to deboard at Paradip port, unloading of crude oil started on Thursday morning.

"The oil tanker arrived on Wednesday with a cargo of 11,350 metric tonnes at Paradip port. Coast Guard, marine police, customs, CISF and other security agencies reached the Single Point Mooring (SPM) and thoroughly checked the oil tanker," said Jagatsinghpur SP, Bhawani Sankar Udgata.

The unloading process involves pipelines transferring oil from the tanker to onshore facilities of IOCL. It is expected to take around 30 hours, and is expected to be completed on Friday evening. "We examined the passports and other documents of all the 25 crew members including the 21 Pakistani. As per our direction, Pakistani crew members did not disembark from the oil tanker," Udgata said.

Patrolling is being done in the port and nearby areas. All the vehicles passing through the port area are being checked, he added.