Massive Fire on Singapore-Flagged Ship Near Beypore Coast Leaves 4 Crew Members Missing
New Delhi: After a cargo vessel caught fire around 40 nautical miles off the Beypore coast early on Monday (June 9), the Indian Coast Guard and Navy have launched a combined rescue operation.
The Singapore-flagged container ship, M V Wan Hai 503 had 22 crew members, of whom four are missing, reported Indian Express. Five crew members have sustained injuries, with two of the crew members being seriously injured.
Most of the crew members are of Taiwanese nationality and managed to abandon the ship in life boats and life rafts.
M V Wan Hai 503 had departed Colombo on June 7 and was scheduled to reach NPC Mumbai on June 10.
The Navy got information around 10.30 am on Monday, about the underdeck fire on board the ship. The fire has engulfed the entire vessel.
The ship’s owners have been asked to assess and report the nature of the cargo in the affected hold to ascertain the presence of any hazardous material.
The coast guard and the navy also promptly deployed two and one Dornier aircraft, equipped with life rafts for aerial support and situational assessment.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued an alert for the coast of Kerala owing to the potential oil spill and debris from the ship, reported BBC.
According to the Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said two of the missing crew members are from Taiwan, one from Myanmar and one from Indonesia. The MPA said that it has sent a team to help with the rescue.
Last month, a Liberian vessel containing hazardous cargo, among others, sank off Kochi in Kerala.
The Indian Coast Guard had on May 24 rescued 21 members of the crew on board the vessel. The captain of the ship and two engineers stayed back on ship till the morning of May 25 but they were forced to abandon it as the vessel sank.
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