Indian coast guard battles massive fire on container ship listing off Kerala
India's coast guard is fighting a massive blaze aboard a container ship that's threatening to sink about 15 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala as the search continues for four missing crew members.
Images showed flames and towering plumes of diesel smoke rising from the Singaporean-flagged MV Wan Hai 503 that was tilting '10 to 15 degrees' in the water, according to Indian Coast Guard Commandant Amit Uniyal.
Explosions were still being heard on Tuesday, more than 24 hours after the Indian Coast Guard responded to a distress call. Around 9:30am local time Monday, the ship's crew reported a fire caused by an explosion, Uniyal said, though it's not clear what caused the blast.
Eighteen sailors were rescued from the stricken ship with 'some injuries,' according to The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. Four crew members remain missing.
The MV Wan Hai 503 is managed by Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd, according to the port authority, which said it would investigate the incident. CNN has reached out to the company for comment.
The 269-meter (890-foot) vessel left Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 7 and was set to arrive in Mumbai, India on Monday.
Uniyal told CNN Tuesday the coast guard was 'doing its very best' to control the blaze, but the situation was worsening. 'I can't tell you whether the ship will sink,' Uniyal said. 'More containers are catching fire.'
Five Indian Coast Guard vessels were fighting the fire Tuesday, reporting that 'explosions persist from mid‑ships to the container bay ahead of the accommodation block,' according to an official social media account.
Images posted by the Indian Coast Guard show flames, black smoke and charred containers. An environmental observation vessel is monitoring their efforts, but the scale of the impact is not yet known.
The incident is the second serious shipping incident off Kerala in under a month, after the Liberian-flagged MSC ELSA 3 sank on May 25.
The vessel went down with over 600 containers including 13 containing 'hazardous cargo,' according to the government of Kerela which initiated an environmental emergency and instructed fisherman against working in the area.
India's Director General of Shipping said none of the 61 containers that washed ashore from the MSC Elsa 3 contained hazardous cargo and 51 had been removed from the shoreline as of June 9.
An underwater operation has been launched to cap the sunken ship's oil tanks and eventually salvage its fuel, the office wrote in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
8 hours ago
- Axios
A 1915 photo of Chicago's oldest park revealed
This week's History Mystery revealed: The 1915 photo captures Chicagoans of all ages (look at the buggies!) enjoying a brisk day at Washington Square Park, also known as Bughouse Square, on the Near North Side. Context: This Getty archival photo of the oldest park in Chicago, first built in 1842, reveals few visual clues. Yes, but: The former Unity Church, now the Scottish Rite Cathedral at 935 N. Dearborn Street, offers a dead giveaway. Zoom out: The area surrounding the park includes some impressive Chicago architecture, including homes designed during the post-Fire rebuilding period right before the turn of the 19th century. The homes were mainly designed for Chicago's wealthiest. It was also around this time that the Newberry Library was built just north of the park. The intrigue: Around 1890, the park started hosting public debates, giving it the nickname "Bughouse Square." The soapbox speeches continued throughout the 20th century, featuring famous speakers like Studs Terkel, whose ashes were spread at the park after he died in 2008.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Bloomberg
EV-Carrying Ship Still on Fire Days After Blaze, Images Show
The US Coast Guard released images of a ship that was abandoned in the Pacific Ocean after catching fire last week. The fire on board the Morning Midas vessel continues to burn, its manager said Tuesday, after breaking out on June 3 on a deck carrying electric vehicles. There are no signs of pollution and the vessel's watertight integrity remains intact, Zodiac Maritime said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Indian coastguard battles blaze on container ship
India's coastguard said Tuesday it was battling to stop a fierce blaze that has engulfed a Singapore-flagged container ship listing off the southern coast that broke out a day earlier. The 268-metre (879-foot) container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 carrying 22 crew members caught fire some 78 nautical miles off India's Beypore port on Monday. Eighteen crew members were rescued by the Indian coastguard and navy, with four still missing. Indian Coast Guard said Tuesday that "fires and explosions persist" on the vessel, which was tilting at around "10–15 degrees". They issued photographs that showed flames leaping from the stacked containers, with the ship surrounded by thick plumes of billowing black smoke. Initial images on Monday showed heavy containers that had seemingly been hurled up by a powerful explosion on board, with the coastguard saying that some were in the water. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority had said there were "some injuries" among the crew. Coastguard vessels alongside the blackened and burning ship poured jets of water onto the flames, according to video footage released. The MV Wan Hai container ship is the second to run into trouble off India's southern coast within weeks. A Liberian-flagged container ship with hazardous cargo sank off the coast of Kerala on May 24. The Indian navy rescued all 24 crew members. bb/pjm/dhc
