The J King merchant vessel from Shanghai holds over 5,000 metric tonnes (MT) of cargo for a 4x600 megawatt (MW) power plant and a half-million tonne of aluminum smelter.

Sources told The Indian Express that due to the pitching caused by choppy seas, fastenings of some of the heavy deck cargo of the vessel have been snapped off, which has caused the ship to lean dangerously.

Among the SOS messages of the ship’s captain to the KoPT, the one sent at 12.31 pm on June 17 says, “Due to rough seas and high wind, my ship cargo has shifted. The ship now lists 10 degrees to starboard side. Please arrange pilot for berthing ASAP (as soon as possible).”

The vessel with a 19-member all-Chinese crew, had reached the Sandhead anchorage near the Haldia port on June 13 at 6.45 am and was waiting to berth. However, a shortage of pilots — navigators designated to guide ships to the Haldia port and then to the Kolkata docks, if necessary — forced the ship to wait on June 14 and 15 as well.

On June 16, the KoPT authorities said a pilot would be sent in the evening, but by then the weather had turned unruly all over the state. The ship was only 15 nautical miles away from the docks then.

“Once the ship began to lean, the port authorities advised the captain to move another 15 nautical miles into deeper sea, instead of coming in. It was feared that the ship would capsize in the river and block the passage of other vessels,” sources said.

Capt A K Bagchi, director, marine department, KoPT said, “It is not possible for the pilot to go out and board the vessel in such rough weather.”

Much of the cargo, nearly 3723.5 MT, is for the $1.9 billion power plant developed by Chennai-based Sterlite Industries at Jharsuguda. The remaining 1689.3 MT of cargo is for the company’s aluminum smelter in that city.