Vindhyagiri sinking: Not my fault, says captain of merchant vessel

[Lex]

Mumbai : The Captain of MV Nordlake, which collided with Indian Navy's INS Vindhyagiri on Sunday leading to the sinking of the latter, on Wednesday denied any negligence on his part and blamed the controllers at the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System and the crew of the naval vessel for the collision.



Quaiser Khalid, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Port Zone), said Capt Petros Valneo, a Slovakian national, said his navigation was not to be blamed for the collision. "The captain denied any responsibility in the mishap and said in his statement that he had 20 years of experience in navigation and had not made any mistakes," said Chandrakant Naik, senior police inspector of Yellowgate police station. Valneo reportedly told the police that the naval authorities had made miscalculations and miscommunications that led to the accident.



The police are investigating to see if Valneo has been part of any other such accidents in the past. "Since he is a Slovakian national, it is difficult for us to trace his records. However, we have started collecting details of his record," said DCP Khalid. The police will also compare Valneo's statement to the data and physical evidence, including the communication logs of both vessels. Khalid said they were also analysing the video footage recorded by several people aboard INS Vindhyagiri. "We are looking for correlations between the footage, the communication logs and the statements of the various witnesses along with that of Valneo's."

The matter is also being probed by Director General of Shipping and the Board of Inquiry constituted by the Navy.

Express News Service Posted online: Thu Feb 03 2011, 09:32 hrs