Latest news with #WanHaiLines
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Container shipping needs a new global liability regime
MUMBAI: India must push for a new global regime to govern container shipping liability, safety, and environmental protection in line with evolving maritime risks, a government official has said after two back-to-back incidents involving container ships off the coast of Kerala in a fortnight raise alarm bells. 'The two incidents bring into sharp focus the broader regulatory blind spot surrounding container shipping, which, unlike oil tankers, remains outside the purview of comprehensive global liability frameworks - despite the environmental and infrastructural risks they now regularly present,' the official said. 'Container ships like ' MSC ELSA-3' and ' Wan Hai 503 ' are not covered under compensation regimes equivalent to those for oil tankers, despite carrying hazardous cargo and posing major risks. High-profile incidents such as the 'Ever Given' (Suez Canal) and 'DALI' (Baltimore bridge collapse in the U.S.) underscore the need for a dedicated international liability regime for container shipping,' the official said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo An explosion in one of the cargo containers on Monday triggered a fire that continues to rage, engulfing the Singapore-flagged container ship 'Wan Hai 503', about 44 nautical miles off the coast of Azhikkal in Kerala. While the Indian Coast Guard ships are at the site making valiant efforts to douse the fire, the stricken ship owned by Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines, has started to list (tilt) to one side, with many fearing that the ship may sink, raising the spectre of an environmental hazard due to the presence of dangerous cargo in some of the containers. Live Events Already an unspecified number of containers have fallen overboard following the explosion and fire. 'This isn't just a shipping disaster,' says ex-mariner Sandeep Maurya. 'It's a loud alarm for the entire shipping industry,' he noted. The mishap demands rethinking cargo handling for extreme climates, investing in fail-safe refrigeration and monitoring for hazardous goods and strengthening global safety protocols for dangerous materials at sea. 'The lives of seafarers and the integrity of the global supply chain depend on it,' Maurya added. On May 25, the Liberian-flagged container ship 'MSC ELSA 3', was en route to Kochi from Vizhinjam, carrying over 640 containers, including at least 12 containing hazardous cargo such as calcium carbide, when it capsized and sank off the coast of Kochi.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
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.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
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.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
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.
Euronews
2 days ago
- General
- Euronews
Fire breaks out on ship after explosion, Indian coastguard says
An explosion and subsequent fire were reported onboard a Singapore-flagged container ship off the coast of Kerala in southern India on Monday, a spokesperson for the Indian Coastguard said. Of the 22 crew members onboard the MV Wan Hai 503, 18 abandoned the vessel with assistance from the Indian Navy and coastguard while four are missing, Commandant Amit Uniyal said in a statement. One of the rescued crew members sustained serious injuries. Two of the four missing are nationals of Taiwan, one is from Indonesia and one from Myanmar, Uniyal said. The navy and coastguard have launched a search operation for the missing, aided by a Dornier aircraft. The navy uses Dornier aircraft primarily for maritime surveillance, search and rescue operations. A number of ships have also been sent to help put out the fire some 88 nautical miles (162 km) from the coast of Beypore in Kerala. "The vessel is presently adrift, and firefighting efforts have commenced to bring the situation under control," said Uniyal. "Saving lives of the crew in distress, firefighting and mitigating environment hazard remains the priority for coastguard." He said they were working to establish the details of the ship's cargo and any potential risks it could cause. The 271-metre vessel left the Sri Lankan port of Colombo on 7 June and was set to arrive in Mumbai on Monday. The coastguard received a distress alert from the ship Monday morning reporting an explosion and subsequent fire inside one of the containers onboard. The fire later spread to other containers. The coastguard has not yet given the cause of the explosion and fire. The vessel is managed by Singapore-based Wan Hai Lines, according to a statement from Singaporean authorities. Late last month, a Liberia-flagged container ship sailing between the Indian ports of Vizinjam and Kochi sank off Kerala. The state government issued a high alert in its coastal areas and asked fishermen not to venture near the site where the container ship, which carried hazardous cargo, had sunk. Ukraine and Russia have started a new prisoner of war exchange, following the agreement reached at the second round of direct talks in Istanbul last Monday. "Ukrainians are coming home from Russian captivity," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement. "Today the exchange began and will continue in several stages over the coming days. Among those being returned now are wounded and severely wounded prisoners, as well as those under 25," Zelenskyy added. Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed the return of the first group of Russian POWs as well, without providing details on the swapped soldiers. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that the first group of released prisoners includes personnel from Ukraine's navy, ground forces, air force, national guard, border guard service, territorial defence, and special transport service. Among those returned on Monday are the defenders of Mariupol, who have spent over three years in Russian captivity. "Most of those returned were captured in the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022," Ukraine's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said. "We warmly welcome all who can now breathe the air of their homeland after years of captivity," Lubinets added. "Our team shares in the joy of the families who received that precious and long-awaited call." Kyiv didn't disclose the total number of POWs returned on Monday, citing security reasons. A few days ago, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wanted to bring home 500 prisoners in the POW swap on Saturday and Sunday, which ultimately did not take place. Kyiv and Moscow agreed that the exchange would include young soldiers under 25 years old, the severely wounded and the seriously ill. The sides have also agreed to exchange the bodies of the fallen servicepeople. On Sunday, Russia accused Ukraine of postponing the swap and failing to respect the agreement. Moscow said that the trains carrying the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were due to depart towards the Ukrainian border, accusing Kyiv of "not collecting them". Russia's Lieutenant General Aleksandr Zorin told the state-run TASS news agency the transfer of 'more than 6,000 (Ukrainian) bodies' had been agreed during the talks in Turkey. Kyiv categorically denied the accusations. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian Defenсe Intelligence, said that Ukraine was strictly adhering to the agreements reached at the second round of talks in Istanbul. Budanov stated that the start of "repatriation measures" was scheduled to take place next week, which he claims the Russian side informed him of a few days ago. In his Sunday address, Zelenskyy accused Russia of "playing a dirty political and information game" on the agreed POW exchange. Kyiv says it has brought back over 5,000 prisoners of war in a series of exchanges since March. Ukraine continues to offer Russia an "all-for-all" swap — a proposal Moscow has so far rejected.
