Latest news with #WanHai503
DW
5 hours ago
- General
- DW
India rescues crewmembers from burning cargo ship off Kerala – DW – 06/09/2025
A cargo ship en route to Mumbai erupted in flames, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel off the southern coast of India. While some crew were plucked to safety, a search operation is underway for missing crew members The Indian Coast Guard deployed four vessels to rescue crew members from the burning Singapore-flagged container ship Wan Hai 503, which was on fire approximately 144 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Kerala in southern India. The crew reported an explosion followed by a fire onboard on Monday morning. The cause of the explosion remains unclear. Video footage captured from a Coast Guard aircraft showed large plumes of black smoke billowing from the vessel. Crew members jump overboard to escape flames The fire reportedly spread to multiple containers, prompting the crew to abandon ship and take to life rafts. "According to preliminary information ... there were 22 workers on board the ship ... 18 jumped into the sea and are in rescue boats. Efforts are underway to rescue them," said Shekhar Kuriakose, secretary of the state's disaster management authority, according to Reuters. One of the rescued sailors is reported to have sustained serious injuries. Four crew members, a Taiwanese national, two Indonesians, and one from Myanmar are still unaccounted for, with a search operation currently underway. Edited by: Kieran Burke
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
WATCH: Four crew missing after container ship explosion off coast of India
Four sailors are reported missing after an explosion and fire aboard a containership off the west coast of India. Emergency responders led by the India Coast Guard were fighting a raging, smoky blaze aboard the Wan Hai 503 sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Nhava Sheva. Reports said the fires were ignited Monday by an explosion in the cargo hold of the 882-foot Singapore-flagged ship, built in 2005. Four crew are reported missing while five suffered injuries, including two in critical condition with severe burns. Eighteen crew were rescued. Video of the 4,252-TEU vessel showed a number of containers missing and others burned and damaged in the incident. The cause of the explosion is not yet known. The ship was deployed on Taiwan-based Wan Hai's China-India Express Service (CIX) rotation of Kaiohsiung, Taiwan – Hong Kong – Shekou, China – Singapore – Port Klang, Malaysia – Colombo – Nhava Sheva. Find more articles by Stuart Chirls Intermodal preps 200K chassis for China container surge New world order: Ocean rates up 88% as shippers pounce on lower tariffs New week sees ocean container rates soar Dirtier ports will hurt jobs, US maritime revival: AAPA The post WATCH: Four crew missing after container ship explosion off coast of India appeared first on FreightWaves.
Gulf Insider
7 hours ago
- General
- Gulf Insider
Container Ship Rocked By Explosion Off The Coast Of Kerala, India.
The Singapore-flagged container ship Wan Hai 503 erupted in flames after an explosion rocked the vessel earlier today off the coast of Beypore, a port town in Kerala, southern India. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) wrote on X that naval assets responded swiftly following an explosion aboard the Wan Hai 503, located approximately 130 nautical miles northwest of the Kerala coast. ICG deployed a maritime surveillance aircraft to the incident area for real-time assessment and reconnaissance, alongside diverting four ICG vessels to the area. Local media reports confirm that the crew has abandoned the Wan Hai 503. Here are more details about the incident via The Hindu : Of the 18 crew in the lifeboat , one is reported to have sustained serious injuries. Four crew (2 Taiwanese, 1 Indonesian and 1 Myanmarese) are missing from the time of the explosion . ICG Dornier aircraft is maintaining overhead the vessel for real-time assessment. The vessel is presently adrift and firefighting efforts by the Coast Guard have commenced to bring the situation under control. The details of the cargo onboard are being ascertained to determine the nature of fire and the potential risks involved during firefighting operations, the officials said. The fire poses a significant risk of further explosions and potential structural compromise . Any drifting containers or subsequent hazards to navigation will be assessed only after Coast Guard ships return after rescue operations. All nearby traffic has been alerted to maintain safe CPA and speed reductions in the vicinity, the officials said. . . . According to DG Shipping officials, owners have been requested to promptly assess and report the nature of the cargo in the affected hold to ascertain the presence of any hazardous material One X user on ICG's X account asked: 'Can this second occurrence be indicative of sabotaging indian coast.'
Time of India
8 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Wan Hai's dangerous cargo raises safety concern
Kozhikode: Singapore-flagged container ship Wan Hai 503, which caught fire 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal coast and is adrift, has 157 containers with dangerous cargo listed by International Maritime Organization (IMO). The cargo includes flammable materials, spontaneously combustible substances, and toxic chemicals like pesticides. This raises serious concerns about environmental damage in the Arabian Sea. The cargo manifest, accessed by TOI, showed that the ship has flammable solids (IMO class 4.1) in 20 containers. These include extremely flammable nitrocellulose with alcohol (at least 25% alcohol by mass and up to 12.6% nitrogen by dry mass) in two containers, naphthalene (crude or refined) in 12 containers, solids with flammable liquid in one container and paraformaldehyde in four containers. More importantly, the ship is carrying over 4,900kg of spontaneously combustible (IMO class 4.2) organometallic substance. This pyrophoric material, which can ignite on contact with air and reacts with water, is stored in one container in five portable tanks. IMO guidelines say spontaneously combustible materials are liquids or solids that can catch fire within five minutes of air exposure or self-heat without any external energy. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Maryland Launches New Policy for Cars Used Less Than 50 Miles/day Bindright Undo The ship also has toxic and poisonous substances (IMO class 6.1) in 20 containers. These include 800 drums of bipyridylium pesticide weighing 1,83,200 kg used for weed and pest control, 132 drums of highly toxic and corrosive ethyl chloroformate weighing 27,786 kg in one container, and many other toxic chemicals. Other toxic substances on board include dimethyl sulphate and hexamethylene diisocyanate. The ship has around 50 containers with flammable liquids (IMO class 3). These include ethanol, paint, turpentine, printing ink, ethyl methyl ketone (an industrial solvent), and other materials. A flammable liquid (class 3) is any liquid with a flash point of 60.5°C or less or a liquid heated and transported at or above its flash point in bulk packaging. The ship also carries environmentally-hazardous substances, including benzophenone, trichlorobenzene, 167 boxes of lithium batteries and many others. Spontaneously combustible and highly flammable substances have blocked other vessels from approaching Wan Hai 503 and put out its fire. Shipping experts say the fire's high heat can weaken the stacked containers, causing them to collapse like a pancake and topple. Reports say many containers have already fallen into the sea. Azhikkal port officer Arun Kumar PK confirmed the ship is carrying dangerous cargo in four IMDG classes: 3, 4.1, 4.2, and 6.1.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Science
- The Hindu
INCOIS estimates cargo vessel containers may drift for three more days off Kerala coast
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has informed there is a '70-80%' probability that the containers, persons, debris which went overboard from the vessel 'Wan Hai 503' may drift south-southeastwards from the accident location for the next three days off the Kerala coast. The material including containers are likely to continue to drift in the ocean and might take longer to beach. However, caution is advised about a few containers beaching between Kozhikode and Kochi, it said in a bulletin released on Monday. The Indian Coast Guard had reported a maritime incident involving the Singapore-flagged Cargo vessel 'Wan Hai 503' en route to Nhava Sheva, Mumbai, from Colombo after it experienced a container explosion resulting in a significant onboard fire. The vessel was located approximately 70 nautical miles from Kozhikode, Kerala when the incident occurred and the vessel is currently adrift, said Director T. M. Balakrishnan Nair in a press release. INCOIS institute located in Hyderabad and working under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) had deployed its Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) output for drifting/missing objects, a state-of-the-art, multi-model operational ocean forecasting system that assimilates real-time observational data from a network of coastal and deep-ocean buoys to estimate the drift of the vessel and containers. The situation is being closely monitored, and updated drift directions will be provided. An Oil Spill Trajectory System has also been deployed to forecast the movement and dispersion of a simulated oil spill in the marine environment using advanced ocean circulation models. The simulation outputs help decision-makers assess the possible spread of oil spill, identify vulnerable coastal areas, and coordinate timely and efficient containment and clean-up strategies to minimize ecological damage. The situation is being monitored continuously in close coordination with the Coast Guard, and other stakeholders, to provide updated advisories as needed, said Director T. M. Balakrishnan Nair in a press release.
