Sunken vessel's captain arrested

Two days after a coal-laden cargo vessel sank off Mumbai's coast, police today arrested the captain and chief engineer of the ill-fated ship for "carelessness" and endangering lives of others.

Two days after a coal-laden cargo vessel sank off Mumbai's coast, police on Saturday arrested the captain and chief engineer of the ill-fated ship for "carelessness" and endangering lives of others.

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"The sunken ship MV Rak's captain, Arkan Abdul Khalil Yunus (36), a Jordanian, and chief engineer Ioneseu Ion (54), a Romanian, were arrested under the IPC Section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others)," said Bharat Bhoite, inspector at Yellow Gate police station.

The police on Friday had registered an FIR against the owner, captain and the crew members of the vessel.

"The carelessness of the captain, who is the in-charge of the ship, and the chief engineer, who should have taken care of technical aspects of vessel, has caused the ship to go down the water," said Bhoite.

The police did not comment when asked if more arrests were likely, but maintained they would continue to take appropriate actions as the probe progressed.

Coast Guard sources said they could see oil layers at the place in the sea where the 225 metre-long vessel, which contained about 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel, sank but described the spill as "very negligible" and not capable of causing ecological problems.