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• Giving much relief to the Kochi Port and BPCL-Kochi Refinery, the Italian tanker Enrica Lexie, which was involved in the killing of two fishermen off Kerala coast last week, has been shifted to the outer channel of the port on Monday morning.The Port Marine Department steered the vessel to the outer channel from the Cochin Oil Terminal and the shifting of the vessel would enable the BPCL-KR to berth its vessels, which was waiting at the outer channel with crude oil for the last two days.
• The detention of the Italian vessel at the oil terminal, which was exclusively maintained by the BPCL-KR, had hampered the normal functioning of the terminal, since last Thursday night and the BPCL-KR has taken up the matter with the port authorities to sort out the issue at the earliest.
• Earlier, the Kochi City Police had given permission to shift the Italian tanker Enrica Lexie to the outer channel of the port following the arrest of the two Italian armed guards, involved in the killing, on Sunday night. Though the ship was shifted to the outer channel, it will be put under the strict surveillance of the Navy and the Coast Guard, senior police officials said. The port will monitor the movements of the ship through the radars attached to the Vessel Traffic Management System. This would help the port to alert the Coast Guard and the Navy, the officials added.
• According to senior port officials, the port will have to recover the expenditure such as berth hire, port dues and pilotage from the Italian ship for the three days, which will be around Rs 20 lakh. The shipping company has appointed an agent in Kochi and they are responsible for making the payments.The Italian ship will be sailing from the outer channel once it receives the clearance from the investigating agencies and other regulatory agencies such as the Mercantile Marine Department, the officials added.

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