Lok Sabha Question No. 155 (STARRED), answered on 2022-02-11
Subject: Joint Study on Safety of Ships
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian, D. M. Kathir Anand

MINISTER OF DEFENCE

- (a) to (c) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

## DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 155

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2022

## JOINT STUDY ON SAFETY OF SHIPS

## *155.  DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN: SHRI D.M. KATHIR ANAND:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian Navy and the Sri Lankan Navy have conducted a joint safety study and submitted report on the sinking of the Singapore flagged cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl near the Colombo port;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including that of marine debris and hazardous chemicals found; and
- (c) the other steps taken by the Government to ensure safety for deep sea fishing and navigation of ships in Indian and international waters?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

(SHRI RAJNATH SINGH)

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 155 FOR ANSWER ON 11.02.2022 REGARDING 'JOINT STUDY ON SAFETY OF SHIPS';

- (a)  No, Sir. No joint study was conducted by Indian Navy (IN) and Sri Lankan Navy (SLN). However, post  sinking  of  MV  X-Press  Pearl,  a  container  carrying  ship,  a  formal  request  was received from Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) through High Commission of India, Colombo seeking assistance for undertaking survey of the area off Colombo to locate the debris of MV XPress  Pearl.  Accordingly,  INS  Sarvekshak,  a  hydrographic  survey  ship,  was  deployed  off Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 25 June - 02 July 2021 for undertaking survey of the affected area.
- (b)  The  ship  undertook  survey  off  Colombo  harbour  using  Side  Scan  SONAR  (Sound Navigation and Ranging) traversing over 807 NM from 25 June to 02 July 2021. During the survey, 54 containers were detected on the seabed as well as an old wreck of a boat. However, no hazardous chemical was reported by the ship.
- (c)  (i)  In  order  to  ensure  Safety  of  Deep  Sea  Fishing  in  Indian  and  International  Waters, sufficient funds have been earmarked under the Department of Fisheries (DoF)'s Pradhan Mantri Matsya  Sampada  Yojana  (PMMSY)  for  provision  for  safety  kits  such  as  Global  Positioning System (GPS), life-jackets, other life-saving appliances, search & rescue beacons etc. including Distress  Alert  Transmitters  (DATs),  Automatic  Identification  System  (AIS),  Navigation  with Indian Constellation (NAVIC), etc. to fishermen. DoF has released an amount of Rs. 3489.74 lakh  for  providing  safety  kits  to  the  fishermen  under  Blue  Revolution  Scheme.  Under  the PMMSY, Rs.  5899.36  lakh  has  so  far  been  sanctioned  for  providing  14120  communication/ tracking devices and 1351 safety kits for the fishermen/ fishing boats, and more such devices can be provided in case States/ UTs send further proposals. In addition, Rs. 18.01 Crore has been released to Government of Tamil Nadu for installation of 4997 transponders in fishing vessels under Blue Revolution Scheme. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also coming up with  an  OCEANSAT-III  Satellite  for  which  DoF  is  providing  Rs.  30.65  crores  in  2021-22 budget.  This  will  cover  entire  Indian  Exclusive  Economic  Zone  (EEZ)  and  hence  track  the fishermen in a comprehensive manner.
- (ii)  In  order  to  ensure  safety  of  Navigation  of  ships  in  Indian  and  International  waters, Directorate of Shipping has issued Merchant Shipping Notice - 11 of 2020, which pertains to routing of ships at the south-west coast of India. It has also issued Merchant Shipping Notice 11 of 2017 which pertains to regulating Maritime Traffic off Mumbai and Mumbai High .

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