E-Paper
‘Gratitude to Indian Navy’: China on rescue of crew aboard cargo ship which caught fire off Kerala coast
While 18 crew members were evacuated by INS Surat, four remain missing.
The Chinese embassy in India expressed gratitude to the Indian Navy and Mumbai Coast Guard after the rescue of 18 crew members aboard a cargo vessel which caught fire and faced an explosion off the Kerala coast on Monday.
“On June 9, MV Wan Hai 503 encountered onboard explosion and fire 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal, Kerala. Of the total 22 crew members on board, 14 are Chinese, including 6 from Taiwan. Our gratitude goes to the Indian Navy and the Mumbai Coast Guard for their prompt and professional rescue,” Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India, posted on X on Tuesday.
Jing wished success to further search operations and speedy recovery to the crew members who had suffered injuries.
The 270m-long Singapore-flagged vessel departed Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 7.
Fire broke out on the vessel, which was en route to the Nhava Sheva port near Mumbai, on Monday morning, according to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) PRO. The ship is carrying containerised cargo with a crew of 22 members. While 18 of them were rescued, four remain missing.
The injured crew members were evacuated by INS Surat and brought to the New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) Coast Guard berth at Panambur. Following this, they were taken to the AJ Hospital in Kuntikana late Monday night.
After the fire was spotted, ICGS Rajdoot off New Mangalore, ICGS Arnvesh off Kochi & ICGS Sachet off Agatti were diverted to the cargo vessel for assistance.
While fires and explosions on the vessel continue, ICG officials told PTI that the forward bay blaze had been brought under control. They said that the ship was listing approximately 10 to 15 degrees to port, adding that more containers had been reported to have falled overboard.
“The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) initiated an immediate response, deploying two Dornier aircraft equipped with life rafts for aerial surveillance and situational assessment. Five ICG ships, including specialised firefighting and pollution response vessels, have been mobilised to the incident site,” the ICG said in a press release.
