India battles container ship fire with ‘hazardous' cargo
[NEW DELHI] India's coast guard said it was battling to extinguish fires raging on a container ship carrying 'hazardous' cargo off the southern coast to prevent a 'potential ecological disaster'.
The 268-metre Singapore-flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503, carrying 22 crew members – four of whom are missing – caught fire about 78 nautical miles off India's Beypore port on Jun 9.
Photographs released by the coast guard soon after the blaze broke out showed heavy containers scattered about the vessel, as if hurled up by a powerful explosion. Since then, fire has engulfed the ship.
'The vessel is carrying 2,128 tonnes of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous cargo, posing a serious risk to the marine environment and regional shipping routes,' the coast guard said in a statement late on Wednesday (Jun 11).
It did not provide more details on the contents of the cargo, but said that 'the situation remains critical'.
Eighteen crew members were rescued by the Indian coast guard and navy. Four crew – one from Indonesia, two from Taiwan and one from Myanmar – were listed as missing.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
The coast guard said it had 'winched five salvage team members' and a diver onto the burning ship.
'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', it said.
'Intensive firefighting efforts... have significantly reduced visible flames', it added.
'However, the fire remains active in the inner decks and near fuel tanks.'
Seven vessels, including five coast guard vessels as well as airplanes and a helicopter, were engaged in trying to put out the fire.
The MV Wan Hai 503 container ship is the second to run into trouble off India's southern coast within weeks.
A Liberian-flagged container ship, also with hazardous cargo, sank off the coast of Kerala late last month. The Indian navy rescued all 24 crew members. AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
43 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
Air India crash: Cheerful family took last wefie in cabin moments before disaster, Asia News
Amid the wreckage of Thursday's (June 13) devastating Air India crash is a story of hope turned heartbreak. Just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India, two doctors and their three young children took a cheerful wefie onboard the ill-fated flight. Dr Prateek Joshi, who held the camera, was working in London for some time, reported Indian media outlet NDTV. His wife, Dr Komi Vyas, who had been practising at a hospital in India, had resigned from her job and was relocating with their children — a pair of twin boys and a daughter, aged five and eight respectively — to join Dr Joshi and begin a new chapter in London as a family. But the family were among the 241 passengers killed when the London-bound Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed seconds after take-off. Speaking to NDTV, Dr Joshi's cousin said: "They left for Ahmedabad yesterday to take the flight to London. "Prateek had come here just two days ago to take his wife and children with him. Several other members of both families went to see them off." Dr Vyas' brother, Prabuddha, said that the couple were married for 10 years. There were 242 passengers and crew on board the plane, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian. In the worst aviation disaster in a decade, only one passenger, British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh, survived the crash. [[nid:719019]] chingshijie@
AsiaOne
5 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Rescuers search for missing people, aircraft parts after Air India crash kills over 240, Asia News
AHMEDABAD, India — Rescue workers searched for missing people and aircraft parts on Friday (June 13) after an Air India plane crashed onto a medical college hostel in the city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 240 people in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board, headed for Gatwick Airport south of London, had only one survivor after it crashed onto the hostel during lunch hour. There were deaths on the ground as well, with local media putting the toll as high as 24. Reuters could not immediately verify the number. Authorities said they were still searching for people missing on the ground. Rescue personnel continued their search through the night and early morning, hunting for missing aircraft parts amid the debris that could explain why the plane crashed soon after taking off. Local newspaper Hindustan Times reported that one of two black boxes from the plane had been found. Reuters could not verify the report and the paper did not say whether the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered. Residents living in the vicinity said that construction of the hostel for resident doctors was completed only a year ago and the buildings were not fully occupied. "We were at home and heard a massive sound, it appeared like a big blast. We then saw very dark smoke which engulfed the entire area," said 63-year-old Nitin Joshi, who has been living in the area for more than 50 years. CCTV footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. Parts of the plane's fuselage were scattered around the smouldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building. Air India said the lone survivor, a British national, was being treated in the hospital. The man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off. Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, said on Thursday the death toll was more than 240, revising down a previous toll of 294 as it included body parts that had been double counted. The dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from Gujarat, has visited the site and Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson also arrived in the early hours of Friday. The company has said the investigation would take time. Planemaker Boeing has said a team of experts is ready to go to India to help in the probe. It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, a wide-body airliner that began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said. The last fatal plane crash in India, the world's third-largest aviation market and its fastest growing, was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm. The formerly state-owned Air India was taken over by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and merged with Vistara — a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines — in 2024. [[nid:719022]]
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘Unimaginable': Families mourn dead in Air India crash
Family members and friends mourning as at least 265 passengers were killed in the June 12 Air India crash. PHOTO: AFP Follow our live coverage here. AHMEDABAD, India – In an echoing hall in India's Ahmedabad, mourning families gave DNA samples on June 13 to identify relatives missing after a London-bound passenger jet crashed in a residential area. At least 265 people onboard and on the ground were killed when the Air India 787-8 Dreamliner smashed into a residential area soon after takeoff on June 12. Just one passenger miraculously survived the giant fireball. Mr Ashfaque Nanabawa, 40, said he had come to find his cousin Akeel Nanabawa, who had been onboard with his wife and three-year-old daughter. He said they had spoken as his cousin sat in the plane just before takeoff. 'He called us and he said, 'I am in the plane and I have boarded safely and everything was okay'. That was his last call.' Mr Nanabawa, speaking in the early hours of the morning of June 13, said he and his family had given DNA samples, but had yet to 'identify any of the bodies'. 'Heartbreaking' Indian police said at least 265 bodies had been recovered from the smouldering crash site – both from the wreckage of the plane and the medical staff accommodation which the burning jet crashed into. The toll may rise further as more bodies are located. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the crash 'heartbreaking beyond words'. Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the crash site and those injured in hospital on the evening of June 12, said forensic laboratories would 'complete the DNA testing in the shortest possible time'. Mr Shah said the final official toll would 'be declared only after DNA testing is completed'. On a raised platform, a dozen exhausted doctors worked to collect samples for the grim task of trying to identify bodies. 'We have taken samples of babies and those above 80 years old. I don't have words to explain this,' said a doctor, on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members, making 242 onboard. Only one – a British national – is confirmed to have survived. At least 24 people also died on the ground when the jet hit residential buildings. 'As doctors, you're always prepared for the worst, right?' the medic said. 'But this is just overwhelming. Families are crying, looking for answers.' Above, the sounds of planes echoed, with the hall close to another airport. 'One person came to give the child, wife and mother were on the flight,' the doctor added. 'What do I even say?' One woman, too grief-stricken to give her name, said her son-in-law had been killed. 'My daughter doesn't know that he's no more,' she said, wiping away tears. 'I can't break the news to her. Can someone else do that, please?' 'Unimaginable' Friends also arrived in a desperate search for news. Mr Premal Mehta, 39, from Ahmedabad, said he did not want to believe that his friend Mahesh Jeerawala had been killed. 'I am using everything in my power – political contacts, whatever it is – to find him,' Mr Mehta said in desperation as he supported his friend's brother, who was providing a DNA sample. Others had flown in seeking news, or to identify the dead. Mr Ismail Sheikh said he had celebrated only days before with his friend, a London resident who had returned to see family in India. His friend was onboard with his wife and two children. Mr Sheikh recalled taking his friend to the airport 15 years ago, when he moved to London with high hopes for the future. 'Now I am here,' Mr Sheikh said, his eyes wet with tears. 'This is unimaginable'. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
