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Cargo ship catches fire off Kerala coast, 4 missing

Cargo ship catches fire off Kerala coast, 4 missing

Scroll.in2 days ago

A Singapore-flagged container ship on its way to Navi Mumbai caught fire off the coast of Kerala on Monday, the Indian Coast Guard said.
While four of the ship's 22 crew members were missing, the remaining had been rescued, it added. A search operation was underway to rescue the missing persons.
The 18 members of the crew had reportedly jumped into the sea and used emergency rafts to escape the fire that broke out in the middle portion of the ship MV Wan Hai 503, The Hindu quoted officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority as saying.
The rescued crew was taken to Mangaluru in Karnataka for treatment, OnManorama reported.
The incident cook place when the vessel was off the coast of Beypore port, the news outlet reported. The Indian Coast Guard said that the ship was 130 nautical miles north-west of Kochi.
There were reportedly more than 650 containers, including 150 containing hazardous materials, in the cargo vessel, The Hindu reported. Twenty containers had fallen into the sea after several explosions and fire on board.
A container explosion had triggered the fire, OnManorama reported. The ship remained adrift and continued to emit smoke as of Monday night.
Five coast guard ships and an aircraft were dispatched to rescue the crew and for surveillance, The Hindu quoted officials from the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre in Kochi as saying.
The vessel had departed Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday and was expected to reach Mumbai on Tuesday.
Singaporean High Commissioner Simon Wong said on social media: 'Professional and rapid response of the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy. Praying that remaining crew are found soon.'
While two of the four missing persons are Taiwanese citizens, one is from Indonesia and another from Myanmar.
The ship's owners have been requested to assess and report the nature of the cargo in the affected hold to ascertain the presence of hazardous material. No information has been yet received on whether dangerous goods were involved in the explosion, The Indian Express reported.
This came two weeks after a Liberian-flagged container vessel carrying 'hazardous cargo' sank off the coast of Kochi on May 25 after it began gradually tilting a day earlier. All 24 crew members on board the vessel were rescued.
On May 29, the Kerala government declared the wreckage of the container ship a state-specific disaster. It was carrying 13 containers with hazardous cargo and 12 of calcium carbide.

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Fire in container ship off Kerala contained considerably, inner decks still burn
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Fire in container ship off Kerala contained considerably, inner decks still burn

After three days of sustained firefighting, the Coast Guard said the massive blaze on the Singapore-flagged vessel M V Wan Hai-503 has been considerably contained. The Coast Guard said its ship deployed a three-member team comprising divers and salvors in a Chetak helicopter to the deck of the vessel. It said they successfully secured the towing hawser (a rope or cable used to tow vessels) on the ship, connecting it to the Coast Guard ship Samudra Prahari, which now contains its movement. This prevents the ill-fated container ship from drifting to the coast. Once two or three tow lines are placed, it will be handed over to tug boats, which will pull the vessel away from the coast. The Coast Guard said the salvors were from the Marine Emergency Response Centre of Vishwakarma Mechanical Works, Gujarat. 'The container vessel continues to drift approximately 42 nautical miles off Beypore in Kerala within the exclusive economic zone of the country. The ship, which is carrying 2,128 MT of fuel and hazardous cargo, still poses an environmental risk. The Coast Guard, with air and sea assets, has largely contained the fire. Inner decks still burn. Salvors winched onboard to aid towing. Unfavourable seas persist. Focus remains on extinguishing the blaze and preventing a marine disaster,'' the Coast Guard posted on X. Kerala Disaster Management Authority member Secretary Shekhar Kuriakose said securing the towing hawser on a burning ship is 'a significant achievement.' Four Coast Guard ships — Samudra Prahari, Sachet, Vikram, and Samarth — with helicopters, are positioned around the vessel for firefighting and coordinating pollution response in case of any oil or chemical spill. Residual smoke is still visible from the distressed vessel. Ships Arnvesh, Rajdoot and Kasturba Gandhi are undertaking search operations for the 4 missing crew of the vessel. An official communication said, about 24 containers had fallen off the vessel and are likely floating or have sunk. The Single Point Mooring owned by Bharat Petroleum has been asked to keep a close watch to deflect any floating containers to prevent damage to the installation.

ICG intensifies operations as burning container vessel drifts off Kerala Coast
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Kochi (Kerala) [India], June 11 (ANI): The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday winched five salvage team members and an aircrew diver onto the burning Singaporean-container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 to facilitate towing operations. According to an official release from the Ministry of Defence, the vessel, which caught fire off the Kerala coast on June 9, continues to drift south-east within India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), approximately 42 nautical miles from Beypore, Kerala. The vessel is carrying 1.2 lakh metric tons of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous cargo, posing a serious risk to the marine environment and regional shipping routes. 'Intensive firefighting efforts by ICG have significantly reduced visible flames, with only smoke now seen across the cargo holds and bays. However, the fire remains active in the inner decks and near fuel tanks,' the release stated. 'Five ICG ships, two Dornier aircraft, and a helicopter are engaged in the ongoing firefighting mission, supported by two vessels from the Directorate General of Shipping. A salvage team appointed by the ship's owners is working in coordination with ICG, and the Indian Air Force has been requested for additional aerial support,' it added. With the fire yet to be fully extinguished, efforts to establish a towline and pull the vessel away from the coast are underway to prevent a potential ecological disaster. The situation remains critical and is being monitored continuously. (ANI)

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