Blaze contained, Singapore vessel to be towed away
'In a daring operation...a Coast Guard helicopter managed to winch five members of the salvage team and an aircrew diver on the deck of the burning vessel to facilitate the towing process at 3 pm on Thursday. Rough sea conditions are posing a challenge to the fire fighting operations. Containing the fire and towing the vessel to a safer location remain top priority,' the Coast Guard said in a release.
The Director General (DG) Shipping has released the complete cargo manifest of MV Wan Hai 503, confirming that it carried 1,754 containers of which 1,083 were in the cargo hold under deck and 671 on the deck.
As per the report, 143 containers carried dangerous cargo, including flammable liquids and solids, substances that can emit flammable gases, and toxic substances. Efforts are on to retrieve and identify any containers lost overboard.
'Two Coast Guard vessels are involved in firefighting operations while the other vessels are engaged in border cooling and search for the four missing crew members. The fire on the deck has been contained but dark smoke is billowing from the vessel. There is fire inside the cargo hold,' said an officer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
44 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Coast Guard starts towing burning cargo ship off Kerala coast
KOCHI: With the fire subsiding, the Indian Coast Guard started efforts to drag MV Wan Hai 503, which has been burning for the past four days, deep into the sea on Thursday. An MI-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force took off from Kozhikode on Thursday and dropped 2,600kg of fire retardant dry chemical powder on the vessel deck. According to agencies involved in the operation, the fire on the deck has subsided, but smoke is rising from the cargo hold, indicating fire under the deck. 'Once the fire is completely doused, T & T Salvage, the salvage team appointed by the owner of the Singapore-flagged ship, will take over the vessel and tow it away from the Indian waters. Currently, the Coast Guard is holding the towline and slowly moving the ship into the deep sea. The DG Shipping has sent reinforcement from Mumbai which is on the way. The slavers have been told to arrange their own tugs to continue the operation,' said a senior officer. An officer said the salvage team has been supporting the the Coast Guard to douse the fire. Five ships – ICGS Samarth, Saksham, Samudra Prahari, Sachet and Vikram – are involved in the fire fighting and boundary cooling operations. Meanwhile, the search for the four missing crew members is on. The tug Ocean Warrier has returned to the shore due to some technical snag and another tug is being arranged. Additionally, the salvage team has started the hot tapping process to remove the oil from the bunkers of MSC Elsa 3 on Thursday afternoon. The team had plugged three leaks in the bunkers by Thursday morning and is hopeful of removing the oil within three days.
Hans India
4 hours ago
- Hans India
MyVoice: Views of our readers 13th June 2025
Nation mourns as Boeing 787 crashes In one of the worst air disasters in India's aviation history, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed in a devastating mid-air tragedy. At a chilling 625 feet, the aircraft lost control before plummeting into a densely populated area, turning homes and lives into a mangled mess of debris. On board were 242 passengers; 133 have been reportedly confirmed dead. The remaining are feared missing or critically injured. This marked the first major crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Indian skies — a jet once touted for its safety and innovation. The visuals emerging from the crash site are nothing short of horrifying: twisted metal, burning wreckage, and families weeping amid ruin. The nation stands in stunned silence as rescue operations continue. This disaster has not only shattered lives but also shaken public faith in air safety. A full investigation is underway, but for now, India mourns a catastrophe that should never have happened. N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru Human error or…. The initial information definitely pointed to a technical snag forcing the experienced pilot to send out a May Day call within 5 minutes of take-off. This very plane was involved in a serious technical snag during December 2024 wherein it was taken off the tarmac before takeoff. Eversince the Air India authorities persisted with its use for regular flights unmindful of its Air worthiness! Even the DGCA was on record to have issued a show cause notice to the airlines concerned about this very plane. Yet the operator continued to press this plane for regular flights all over! Apparently, as per reports available it is a clear case of human error coupled with greed for money throwing the safety of passengers to the winds! Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada Kerala faces environmental crisis The Kerala coast is witnessing container shipwrecks with toxic and hazardous cargo – MV Wan Hai 503 is the second such ship after a major blast ripped through the Singapore flagged container vessel. Among the 18 crew members, five sustained burn injuries and were admitted to a hospital. Timely action by ICGS Sachet and other three vessels along with INS Sutlej and Tugs could douse the raging fire on the vessel. In a similar incident a container ship MSC ELSA-3 capsized and sank off the coast of Kochi with dangerous chemicals, and the containers began to breach the shorelines of Kollam and other nearby places. Such incidents, along with enormous oil spill would severely affect marine life even as the trawling ban due to monsoon is in place in the state. Such incidents must be taken seriously, and the shipping companies must be made accountable for environmental damage and other bad effects to marine life. K V Raghuram, Wayanad Major catastrophe The plane crash at Ahmedabad airport with 230 passengers bound for London was very tragic, barely had it lifted off and the landing great retrieved, within 45 seconds of take- off. There were Indian and foreign passengers abroad, and had hit a building, being reduced into a fireball. This is a first major crash of the kind; and a similar one that had happened at Kozhikode airport when the aircraft overshot the runway, during landing and fell into the deep gorge, adjacent to the runway. S Lakshmi, Hyderabad Stampedes are routine in India This has reference to the article by Dr Mohan Kanda on 'Prioritise Crowd Control '. National Crime Records Bureau has recorded that our country has the highest number of stampedes. The uncontrolled gathering of people is created by the organizers who give wide publicity for their events. Such, certainly leads to the stampedes, causing injuries and fatalities. The news goes global in no time. The affected family members' mental agonies cannot be healed. But it has become a routine for many prominent personalities to shower their sympathies. The Government at the Centre and in the respective states declare compensations followed by investigation. It is a known fact that over decades the crowd management concepts were all set aside. I request the Prime Minister and all the Chief Ministers to insist on crowd limiting methods thus preventing the accidents. G Murali Mohan Rao, Secunderabad
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- The Hindu
Fire reported in container of Singapore-flagged vessel, under control
A fire was reported in a container of MV Interasia Tenacity, the Singapore-flagged container vessel, on Thursday morning while the vessel was sailing towards the Nhava Sheva port, near Mumbai, prompting the crew to seek assistance from the Indian Coast Guard, official sources said here. The vessel was carrying 1,387 containers with 21 Filipino crew. It departed from Port Klang in Malaysia on June 8 and was scheduled to reach Nhava Sheva late on Friday night.. The fire was reported at 8.40 a.m. in a single container stored on the deck. Upon receiving the distress call over marine radio, the Coast Guard diverted an offshore patrol vessel ICGS Sachet for firefighting and also did aerial surveillance of the vessel. Subsequently, the vessel's master intimated that the fire was under control and that no further assistance was required. 'The situation is stable and the vessel is continuing its passage to Nhava Sheva under close watch of the Coast Guard and Indian Navy,' a Defence source said. The incident occurred off the Kerala coast three days after another Singapore-flagged container vessel caught fire following an explosion off the coast of the southern State.
