Mumbai:
It had turned into a major attraction at Juhu Beach. And this afternoon the merchant vessel Wisdom drew bigger crowds than ever in Mumbai as the Navy began salvage operations that would effectively allow the ship to slowly be moved away .
The MV Wisdom - a massive cargo ship - was being tugged from Colombo to the Alang shipyard in Gujarat to be dismantled when the cable to its tow-boat collapsed. It first drifted dangerously close to the Bandra-Worli Sea link and then ran aground at Juhu Beach on Saturday. Some reports say the Wisdom, owned by a company in Singapore, weighs 9,000 tons.
Naval helicopters dropped steel cables and equipment onto the MV Wisdom so that the company that's now taken over can start moving the ship. Sources say the hull and anchor of the ship are intact - that should make it easier to move the Wisdom. It will reportedly head to Gujarat.
Environmentalists were concerned about the Wisdom being so close to Juhu Beach as the monsoons hit the city.