Sunk ‘Black Rose’ Ship A Lurking Danger For Odisha Fishermen

Paradip: It has been almost 10 years since the iron-ore laden cargo ship, ‘Black Rose’ sank at Paradip anchorage zone, and it is now proving to be a lurking danger for the Odisha fishermen.

A fishing trawler capsized on Sunday after allegedly ramming into the stationary & sunken vessel and the incident has triggered fear and resentment among fishermen, trawler staff and boat owners.

As per reports, the sunken Mongolian ship is 4 feet deep in sea and has always been a threat for fishermen. Raising concerns, fishermen have demanded removal of the ship from the sea.

“Either the port authorities should put markers on the spot where the sunken ship is positioned or they should just remove it,” said a fisherman, Chaturbhuj Kandi.

A boat owner Ashok Kumar Sahu said, “If the Paradip Port authorities do not interfere in the matter, we will definitely take to streets.”

Deputy Conservator of Paradip Port, Captain Atulya Kumar Mahapatra said, “We had marked the area as restricted so no fishing trawlers and boats are allowed to go near it. We had put marker lights at the spot, but it was stolen.”

On the other hand, Paradip MLA Sambit Routray said that an investigation will ascertain whether the trawler capsized after hitting the sunken ship.

“Hundreds of boats go into the sea every day and accident could take place for any reason. In this case, it is yet to be ascertained whether it was Black Rose which hit the trawler or something else,” said Routray.

While on its way to China, the Mongolian vessel had sunk 5 kms off the Paradip port on September 9, 2009 due to unknown reasons. It is alleged that the vessel was engaged in illegal transportation of iron-ore and other minerals by forging documents.