KOCHI: The coast guard found signs of an accident on the British oil tanker Orange Victoria which was seized in Kochi after the accident involving a fishing boat on the coast of Vizhinjam. The Fort Kochi Coastal Police and the Marine Mercantile Division conducted an inspection of the ship anchored in the open sea on Saturday morning.

The paint on this part has been collected by scientific experts for scientific examination. They also checked the ship's automatic information system.

Captain Nikhil Dharamshi told the Coastal Police that they were not aware that the ship had collided with the boat. According to Dharamshi, the ship anchored in Kochi when he was instructed by the Coast Guard as they were returning the empty ship to Gujarat.

There are 23 sailors on board. All are Indian nationals, with two being Malayalees. The Coastal Police sought information from them, who hail from Thrissur and Kannur.

The team of experts will also collect the paint on the boat for scientific testing. Coastal CI V Shaju said further action would be taken after examining the expert report and the report of the Marine Mercantile Division.

The case registered by the Neendakara Coastal Police was handed over to the Fort Kochi Coastal Police yesterday. The ship was inspected by Coastal SI Sangeeth and a member of the scientific team, Jayashree Kumari.

A fiberglass boat named Achu belonging to Pushparaj, a native of Pozhiyoor, was wrecked on Thursday night, 46 nautical miles west of the Vizhinjam coast. The boat was damaged, but luckily all six workers escaped.