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Update: MOL Comfort’s aft section sinks

Update: MOL Comfort’s aft section sinks
The MOL Comfort’s aft section, which remained afloat in the Indian Ocean for several days after the vessel’s catastrophic structural failure, sank at 16:48 hrs local time.

The section, loaded with 1,700 containers, sank near 14’26”N 66’26”E, in a water depth of 4,000 m – 200 m deeper than the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Some of the containers are reportedly floating around the site.

The fore part is being towed stably toward the Arabian Gulf with the majority of cargo aboard, MOL updated on Friday.

"We have contracted with a salvage company to rescue the cargo and hulls. We are keeping patrol boats to monitor the situation of oil leakage and floating containers in the area where the aft part sank," MOL said.

MOL added that “no large volume” of oil has been reported, despite the aft tanks’ load of 1,500m tonnes of fuel oil.

Indian authorities remain on patrol in the area searching for signs of oil leakage and debris.

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