The Navy and the Coast Guard carried out anti-pollution operations for the third consecutive day today to check and neutralise the oil spill caused due to a collision between two cargo ships off the Mumbai coast.

A high-level meeting, to be attended by the officials of the Maharashtra government Environment Department, National Disaster Response Force, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Shipping department, Mumbai Port Trust and other concerned agencies will be held to assess the situation and steps to be taken to bring it under control, sources said.

Six coastguard vessels and a helicopter with anti-pollution dispersal spray systems were pressed into service yesterday to contain the oil spill.

Two Panamanian cargo ships -- MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia-111 -- collided on Saturday off the Mumbai coast causing an oil spill from one of the vessels.

Thirty three crew members, including two Pakistanis, were rescued following the incident.

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Oil spill on as ship tils further

A cargo ship, which collided with another vessel a few nautical miles off the coast here, continued to spill oil for the second consecutive day today as it tilted further while an FIR was lodged against the crew.

A day after the collision involving Panamanian cargo ships - MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia-III --, traffic at the city's harbour remained suspended. The Coast Guard, in its bid to contain the spill, pressed into service five ships and two helicopters with anti-pollution dispersal spray systems.

A thick oil slick spreading 1.5 to 2 miles has been sighted. However, officials are yet to locate the leakage as some portion of 'Chitra' has submerged into the water, a Coast Guard official said.

An FIR was registered against the crew of both the ships who will be summoned for questioning in a day or two, a senior police officer said.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC and the Environment Protection Act was lodged at Yellow Gate police station against the captains and crew of both the cargo ships following a complaint by the Coast Guard, Deputy Police Commissioner Khaled Qaiser told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Shipping has initiated an investigation into the incident, Directorate General of Shipping's Chief Nautical Advisor M M Savvi said.

According to officials, Chitra was carrying about 1200 containers which had over 266 tonnes of fuel. "Nearly 250 containers have fallen into the sea after the ship tilted further to 75 degrees today," the CG official said.

Fishermen were asked not to carry out any fishing activities till the oil spill is contained, he said.

MSC Chitra, the outbound merchant vessel from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), collided with MV Khalijia-III around five nautical miles off the shores yesterday when the latter was sailing towards Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) for berthing.

The Indian captain and 32 crew members of Chitra were evacuated and the ship was grounded in the vicinity of the Prong Reef Lighthouse.