A Singapore-flagged container vessel caught fire about 144 km off the coast of Beypore in Kerala, prompting the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) to launch a rescue and relief operation to bring the blaze under control and rescue the crew on board, a defence ministry spokesperson in Kochi said on Monday.
According to the defence ministry’s post on social media platform ‘X’, the fire was reported on container vessel ‘MV Wan Hai 503’, around 78 nautical miles off Beypore in Kozhikode district of Kerala.
A Reuters report stated that multiple explosions led to the fire and nearly 40 containers fell into the Arabian Sea. Several crew members jumped off the vessel to escape the flames.
“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,” Shekhar Kuriakose, secretary of the Kerala disaster management authority, said, adding that the vessel was not “currently sinking”.
Of the 22 crew members onboard, 18 have abandoned the vessel on boat while the rest are reported to be missing.
The Navy diverted its INS Surat and planned a DO sortie from INS Garuda while the ICG deployed multiple assets, including a CG Dornier, for rescue and assessment, the ministry said in the statement.
{{/usCountry}}The Navy diverted its INS Surat and planned a DO sortie from INS Garuda while the ICG deployed multiple assets, including a CG Dornier, for rescue and assessment, the ministry said in the statement.
{{/usCountry}}“The vessel is presently on fire and adrift,” the ministry added.