<p>Thiruvananthapuram: A cargo ship caught fire in the sea off the Kannur coast in north Kerala on Monday. While four members of the crew are missing, 18 were rescued.</p><p>The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Navy are involved in the rescue operation. It is the second ship mishap in the Arabian sea off Kerala coast in hardly two weeks time.</p><p>According to the Indian Coast Guard, Singapore flag carrier Wan Hai 503 met with explosion and subsequent fire at around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal (Kerala) and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi by around 9.20 am while moving towards Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai from Colombo.</p><p>The crew have abandoned the vessel into life raft. Of the 22 members in the crew, 18 were rescued while four were missing. All the 18 are being taken to Mangalore port in INS Surat for disembarkation and medical aid.</p><p>One among them was reported to have sustained serious injuries. ICG Dornier aircraft are maintaining overhead the vessel for real-time assessment. The ship was adrift and firefighting efforts were going on till late into the night.</p>.ICG evacuates fisherman who suffered severe chest pain, seizures off Gujarat coast.<p>Many containers fell into the sea. There were unconfirmed reports that the ship was carrying flammable cargo. The Directorate General of Shipping has instructed the ship’s owners to disclose the nature of cargo in the affected containers and immediately engage qualified salvors and firefighting experts.</p><p>The crew included eight Chinese, six Taiwanese, five Myanmar and three Indonesian nationals. The vessel departed from Colombo with 22 crew onboard on June 6. It was estimated to reach the Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai by June 9. </p><p>ICG statement said that the vessel was far from shore and all efforts will be undertaken to deter the vessel from closing in to the coast in coordination with stakeholders.</p><p>Kerala ports minister V N Vasavan said that as per initial reports the incident would not cause any threats to the coastal areas of Kerala. </p><p>On May 24 Liberian flag carrier MSC ELSA-3 with 643 containers started sinking in the sea off Kerala coast. By the next day the ship fully sank at 14.6 nautical miles off the Kerala coast. </p><p>As many as 13 containers were said to be containing hazardous and dangerous goods including Calcium Carbide, a chemical that reacts violently with water to release highly flammable acetylene gas.</p><p>Incidentally, the back to back ship mishaps in the sea off the Kerala coast happened close on the heels of the commissioning of the Vizhinjam international seaport.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: A cargo ship caught fire in the sea off the Kannur coast in north Kerala on Monday. While four members of the crew are missing, 18 were rescued.</p><p>The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Navy are involved in the rescue operation. It is the second ship mishap in the Arabian sea off Kerala coast in hardly two weeks time.</p><p>According to the Indian Coast Guard, Singapore flag carrier Wan Hai 503 met with explosion and subsequent fire at around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal (Kerala) and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi by around 9.20 am while moving towards Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai from Colombo.</p><p>The crew have abandoned the vessel into life raft. Of the 22 members in the crew, 18 were rescued while four were missing. All the 18 are being taken to Mangalore port in INS Surat for disembarkation and medical aid.</p><p>One among them was reported to have sustained serious injuries. ICG Dornier aircraft are maintaining overhead the vessel for real-time assessment. The ship was adrift and firefighting efforts were going on till late into the night.</p>.ICG evacuates fisherman who suffered severe chest pain, seizures off Gujarat coast.<p>Many containers fell into the sea. There were unconfirmed reports that the ship was carrying flammable cargo. The Directorate General of Shipping has instructed the ship’s owners to disclose the nature of cargo in the affected containers and immediately engage qualified salvors and firefighting experts.</p><p>The crew included eight Chinese, six Taiwanese, five Myanmar and three Indonesian nationals. The vessel departed from Colombo with 22 crew onboard on June 6. It was estimated to reach the Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai by June 9. </p><p>ICG statement said that the vessel was far from shore and all efforts will be undertaken to deter the vessel from closing in to the coast in coordination with stakeholders.</p><p>Kerala ports minister V N Vasavan said that as per initial reports the incident would not cause any threats to the coastal areas of Kerala. </p><p>On May 24 Liberian flag carrier MSC ELSA-3 with 643 containers started sinking in the sea off Kerala coast. By the next day the ship fully sank at 14.6 nautical miles off the Kerala coast. </p><p>As many as 13 containers were said to be containing hazardous and dangerous goods including Calcium Carbide, a chemical that reacts violently with water to release highly flammable acetylene gas.</p><p>Incidentally, the back to back ship mishaps in the sea off the Kerala coast happened close on the heels of the commissioning of the Vizhinjam international seaport.</p>