Italian ship to be shifted to outer channel

KOCHI: After two days of uncertainty, BPCL’s Kochi Refinery can now heave a sigh of relief. The Cochin Port Trust authorities have said that Enrical Lexie, the Italian tanker which has been under detention at the Cochin Oil Terminal, will be shifted to the outer channel on Monday morning.With this, the vessels carrying cargo for Kochi Refinery, which were made to wait in the outer channel, can enter the port. Making a vessel carrying cargo for the refinery wait for no fault of theirs would cost the oil company approximately `40 lakh per day by way of demurrage.“Though the ship will be shifted to the outer channel, it will be under the surveillance of the port management, Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies,” said the authorities.‘Express’ had reported the loss incurred by the refinery after the Italian vessel was allotted berthing space. On Friday 2 am Jag Prachi, another tanker which was berthed at the oil terminal was asked to make way for the Italian tanker. Jag Prachi was about to start pumping furnace oil to the refinery when she was asked to go back to the outer channel and await further orders.Though Cochin Port has the facility to accommodate two tankers at a time, the oil terminal, situated opposite to the Ernakulam wharf, can accommodate only one large tanker. Hence, the two vessels can gain entry into the port only after the Italian ship leaves the terminal.