PANJIM: Captain of Ports (CoP) Department, in its submission before the Bombay High Court at Goa, has objected to the plea filed by the owner of Luck 7 casino vessel – Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd – seeking permission to anchor the vessel at Panjim jetty to undertake an underwater survey of the vessel, before towing it away.
The High Court, hearing the matter on Tuesday, directed CoP to produce the time frame required to conduct the underwater survey of the damaged vessel, which is grounded on Miramar beach, by September 6.
The Court last month had directed the casino owner to remove the vessel as soon as possible stating that Miramar beach is frequented by many people. The firm has assured to remove the vessel at the earliest.
The firm had then pleaded before the Court to allow it to anchor the vessel at Panjim jetty to undertake the underwater survey to assess the damage before towing it for repairs. However, CoP objected to this stating that the survey is time consuming and hence the vessel cannot be allowed to come to the jetty. The matter will now be heard on Wednesday.
Lucky 7 got grounded at Miramar beach on July 16. The vessel, which had left MPT on July 13, had first stranded near off Cabo Raj Bhavan and then drifted towards Miramar beach. The vessel has now developed a hole at the bottom, which is getting wider.
