Another maritime disaster near Kerala coast; cargo ship catches fire, 18 crew members rescued

KOCHI: Another accident has occurred in the shipping channel near the Kerala coast. A cargo ship en route from Colombo to Mumbai caught fire after an explosion. Efforts to save the vessel were unsuccessful. There were 22 people on board. Eighteen crew members, including the captain, jumped into the sea using a lifeboat and were rescued by the Navy and brought to Mangaluru. Although they were hospitalised, the Navy reported that the condition of two out of five people who suffered burns is critical. Four people are suspected to be trapped inside the ship.

The disaster occurred 44 nautical miles (81.5 km) off the Azhikkal port in Kannur. Though the Coast Guard and Navy are present around the ship, the fire has not yet been extinguished.

This incident comes even before the impact of a previous accident, when a cargo ship capsized off the Kochi coast near Vizhinjam on May 25, has subsided.

Due to intense fire and heat, it is not possible to approach the vessel. The fire has engulfed more than half of the ship, whose engine has shut down. Reports suggest that some containers have fallen into the sea. Rescue operations were called off around 8 PM.

The vessel involved in the accident is the Singapore-flagged Wan Hai 503, which was on its way from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to the Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai. A container reportedly exploded at 9:30 AM yesterday, and the ship caught fire by 12:40 PM.

Of the four missing crew members, two are from Taiwan, one is from Indonesia, and the other is from Myanmar. Though a search operation was launched in the sea, they had not been found as of late night. There is concern that they may be trapped inside the burning ship.

The Coast Guard ships Sachet, Arnavesh, Samudra Prahari, and Abhinav, along with the aircraft C-144, were deployed for the rescue mission. The Coast Guard stated that the operation is being coordinated with the Director General of Shipping, senior state officials, and the Navy.

Timeline of rescue efforts:
9:30 AM: The distress signal from the ship was received at the Coast Guard centre in Mumbai. Ships from Beypore and elsewhere were dispatched.

10:30 AM: Upon receiving the message at the Naval base in Kochi, the INS Surat was deployed to the accident site.

12:40 PM: The ship was engulfed in flames. Coast Guard vessel MV One Marvel and surveillance aircraft reached the scene and rescued 18 crew members floating in the sea with life jackets, providing first aid.

4:30 PM: INS Surat arrived and transported the injured to Mangaluru.

10:00 PM: INS Surat reached Mangaluru and admitted all rescued individuals to the hospital.

Hazardous materials onboard?
There are indications that the containers onboard carried hazardous and flammable materials such as acid, gunpowder, and lithium batteries. Among the 157 containers, many reportedly had materials that could cause fire or explosions. Although the Coast Guard collected cargo information from the Mumbai port, it has not been released publicly.

Just 15 days since last major incident
On May 25, the MSC ELSA 3 sank 14.6 nautical miles off the Thottappally coast in Alappuzha. Now, just 15 days later, this new disaster has occurred off the Azhikkal coast in Kannur.

Out of 643 containers on ELSA, 61 washed ashore from Kochi to Ponnani. These included plastic granules that caused significant environmental damage.

The ship sank with many containers, including 13 containing hazardous calcium carbide and 480 tons of diesel. The state had declared it a disaster.