Second ship fire in days: Blaze aboard Singapore-flagged vessel brought under control

Kochi: A fire was detected in one of the containers on the MV Interasia Tenacity, a Singapore-flagged container ship, on Thursday morning while the vessel was sailing towards Nhava Sheva port near Mumbai, prompting the crew to seek assistance from the Indian Coast Guard, official sources said here.

The fire was reported at around 8.40 am in a single container stored on the deck. The crew of the vessel successfully brought the fire under control, the Indian Coast Guard said.

The incident occurred off the Kerala coast three days after another Singapore-flagged container vessel caught fire following an explosion off the coast of the southern state.

The ship, carrying 1,387 containers and a crew of 21 Filipino nationals, had departed Port Klang, Malaysia, on June 8 and was scheduled to reach Nhava Sheva late on Friday night.

Upon receiving the distress call over marine radio, the Indian Coast Guard deployed its offshore patrol vessel ICGS Sachet for firefighting support and launched an aircraft to carry out aerial surveillance.

The ship's master later confirmed that the crew had brought the fire under control and no further assistance was needed, the Coast Guard said.

"The situation is stable and the vessel is continuing its passage to Nhava Sheva under close watch of Coast Guard and Indian Navy," a Defence source told PTI.