Kerala ship fire: Tow line secured to move burning vessel away from coast

Thiruvananthapuram: In a significant breakthrough in the salvage operation of the blazing Singapore-flagged container ship Wan Hai-503, a tow line has been successfully secured to move it away from the coast.

Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) announced that a salvage team from Marine Emergency Response Center in Porbandar entered the ship, which was on fire, using a coast guard helicopter and connected the vessel to a tug boat on Wednesday.

KSDMA member secretary Shekhar Kuriakose said that the risky operation of entering a ship that was on fire was a significant achievement as the ship can now be tugged away from the coast and thereby reduce the risks to the region. Already, the ship is around 95 kilometers away from the coast, he added.

According to defence authorities, though the fire has subsided, it is not yet fully under control. Unfavourable weather conditions are also affecting the operation.

A Coast Guard statement said that since the ship was carrying 122128 metric tons of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous cargo, the vessel poses a significant threat to the marine environment and nearby shipping routes. 

"Currently, the ship is maintaining a stable equilibrium with a 10-15 degree tilt to the left. There are rains in the area. Flying of Coast Guard's Dornier aircrafts was affected due to the unfavourable weather," an official statement said.

Meanwhile, a high alert is being maintained in the coastal areas of Kerala due to chances of containers with hazardous cargo washing ashore. Fishermen and people living near the coast have been advised not to go near any suspicious objects spotted in the sea. Agencies like ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) are constantly testing water and fish samples for contamination.

The Singapore-flagged ship that was sailing from Colombo to Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai caught fire at around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal in north Kerala on Monday. As many as 157 containers aboard the ship contains highly hazardous cargo like resin solution, nitrocellulose, diacetone alcohol, paint, hydrocarbons, turpentine, naphthalene and organometallic substances.