Goa: Fresh bids to remove River Princess from the shore

The Goa government has invited fresh bids to remove River Princess, a ship stuck off the Candolim beach. The government has been trying to remove the 240-metre-long ore carrier, abandoned by Salgaonkar Mining Industries, without success for the past nine-and-a-half years. The fresh bids were invited on December 18 after Jaisu Shipping Company, which had won the tender in 2007, gave up.

River Princess, carrying a dead weight tonnage of over 1 lakh metric tonnes, remains grounded near the Sinquerim-Candolim beach since June 6, 2000, after it drifted from the high seas due to a heavy storm.

The first bidder, Smith International of Texas, withdrew after the government refused it the time it had sought during '03-'05. UK's Crosschem International, too, failed. Finally, Gujarat's Jaisu Shipping Company was awarded the contract in December 2006, but it also failed.