Ship Recycling: Domestic Pirates ruin the image of Alang Globally
Ships destined for scrapping at the world-famous Alang Ship Recycling Yard are looted in the Gulf of Khambhat and have international ramifications. Shipowners ship a dead vessel in a sloop. An average dead vessel is plundered by native pirates in the seas from Jaffrabad to Alang.
The dead vessel Erica was towed by Tug Thanson-2 and after passing Pipavav, in the sea from Talaja to Alang, a group of native pirates came and boarded this ship in their boat and the valuable electrical goods of the ship, including metal, electronic devices, valves, bearings, copper pipes etc. A complaint of theft of valuable goods has been lodged by the managers of plot no.78. A dead vessel has no crew members, and a tug towing it has harbour crew members.
Only counting tugs are used to bring such dead vessels from the final port to Alang. When is the Dead Vessel going to come to the local pirate gangs of the coastal villages of Bhavnagar district?, when is it going to cross the sea between Mahuwa and Alang? Where are the valuables kept on the ship? Information is obtained in advance, and a rope is kept dangling from the back of a dead vessel, tying his boat to such a rope boarding the vessel and carrying out the robbery.
Pipavav, Jafarabad has a Coast Guard base and also has a Navy presence in the high seas, so local pirates target Dead Vessels in the nearby seas. The Marine Police has meagre equipment, and the boats it has are capable of patrolling only in limited seas, unable to go as far as Gopanath. Although Bhavnagar is the responsibility of Customs, they have not been allocated a patrol boat. There is no system of patrolling at midnight. Alang, Dahej, Bhavnagar Port, and Hazira have several foreign ship traffic but there is no security system for foreign ships.
In the past, domestic pirates have scuttled dead vessels in Alang, and in some cases, the accused have been caught, but the system has not yet been able to get to the root of his elaborate crime pattern. And it is because of this that native pirates have become ruthless, plundering dead vessels without fear.
Expert Opinion; Slow ship speed, take advantage of it
According to Jitubhai Kamdar, CMD of Adinath Marine and Alang Last Voyage, dead vessels that come to be broken up in Alang are pulled by tugs, so their speed is inherently slower. Taking advantage of this, the local pirates come in boats, hang ropes on the closed vessel and board it, even if the tug is half a km away from the dead vessel. Local pirates have the disadvantage of being remote, and also having no crew on board.
Alang Marine Police Station has no boats
According to the information received, Alang Marine Police Station does not have a boat to patrol the sea when there is a lot of commotion due to theft of Rs 50 lakhs from a ship coming to Alang. Mahuwa DSP Anshu Jain said, Alang’s sea is also very current and it is not likely to be patrolled by the simple boats that the police have. In the future, closer patrolling in the sea with other agencies is being considered.
