‘100 tonnes of bunker oil in ship, containers floating between Kozhikode and Kochi'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INOCIS) has warned that there is a possibility of a widespread oil spill in the coastal area of Kerala following the fire accident of the cargo ship Van Hai 503. It is reported that there are 100 tonnes of polluting bunker oil on the ship. The union ministry has also informed that the containers that fell into the sea are floating between Kozhikode and Kochi.

‘The containers are likely to float in the sea for three days. Bunker oil is unsafe. It is likely to flow parallel to the coastal area by Tuesday morning. Its flow will increase by Wednesday morning. The flow will continue in the same direction on Thursday and Friday as well,' said a press release issued by INOCIS.

The container ship en route from Colombo to Mumbai, caught fire yesterday. There were 22 people on board. The Navy has brought 18 crew members, including the captain, who jumped into the sea in a lifeboat to Mangalore. The disaster is 44 nautical miles (81.5 km) away from Kannur Azhikkal Port. Although the coast guard and the navy are around the ship at a distance, they have not been able to entinguish the fire. The container exploded at 9.30 am yesterday. The ship caught fire around 12.40 pm. Search is on for the four missing in the accident. Two of the four are Taiwanese, one is Indonesian and the other is a Myanmar citizen.