Mumbai: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country''s biggest oil explorer, has started hectic talks with shipping companies to keep oil from its Bombay High oil fields flowing after the Directorate General of Shipping recalled its 27 offshore supply vessels for safety reasons. The top management of ONGC, led by its Chairman R S Sharma, flew to Mumbai during the weekend to meet top Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) officials to procure offshore supply vessels (OSVs) urgently for deploying into the fields situated 160 km off the Mumbai coast in the high seas. ONGC has urged them to give more vessels to support them. At present, SCI takes care of operations and management of 22 vessels of ONGC (16 OSVs and 6 specialised vessels).
ONGC will need over 30 vessels to maintain the uninterrupted oil exploration activities. ONGC is unlikely to get more than 15 vessels from the open market at this point of time. The problems for ONGC, however, could flare up as Sical, which has been accused by DG Shipping for plying a non-seaworthy vessel squarely blamed ONGC for the July 9 accident that killed five people on board. It is also to be noted that there was increasing pressure to report the readiness of the taken-over ships to sail immediately after the handing over and taking over were completed as a minimal workforce level had to be maintained on the vessels in the fields to keep the offshore operations going. The DG Shipping is mulling to file a first information report with the Mumbai police against Sical for the July 9 accident.
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