Cargo ship catches fire off Kerala coast, 4 missing
A Singapore-flagged container ship on its way to Navi Mumbai caught fire off the coast of Kerala on Monday, the Indian Coast Guard said.
While four of the ship's 22 crew members were missing, the remaining had been rescued, it added. A search operation was underway to rescue the missing persons.
The 18 members of the crew had reportedly jumped into the sea and used emergency rafts to escape the fire that broke out in the middle portion of the ship MV Wan Hai 503, The Hindu quoted officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority as saying.
The rescued crew was taken to Mangaluru in Karnataka for treatment, OnManorama reported.
The incident cook place when the vessel was off the coast of Beypore port, the news outlet reported. The Indian Coast Guard said that the ship was 130 nautical miles north-west of Kochi.
There were reportedly more than 650 containers, including 150 containing hazardous materials, in the cargo vessel, The Hindu reported. Twenty containers had fallen into the sea after several explosions and fire on board.
A container explosion had triggered the fire, OnManorama reported. The ship remained adrift and continued to emit smoke as of Monday night.
Five coast guard ships and an aircraft were dispatched to rescue the crew and for surveillance, The Hindu quoted officials from the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre in Kochi as saying.
The vessel had departed Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday and was expected to reach Mumbai on Tuesday.
Singaporean High Commissioner Simon Wong said on social media: 'Professional and rapid response of the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy. Praying that remaining crew are found soon.'
While two of the four missing persons are Taiwanese citizens, one is from Indonesia and another from Myanmar.
The ship's owners have been requested to assess and report the nature of the cargo in the affected hold to ascertain the presence of hazardous material. No information has been yet received on whether dangerous goods were involved in the explosion, The Indian Express reported.
This came two weeks after a Liberian-flagged container vessel carrying 'hazardous cargo' sank off the coast of Kochi on May 25 after it began gradually tilting a day earlier. All 24 crew members on board the vessel were rescued.
On May 29, the Kerala government declared the wreckage of the container ship a state-specific disaster. It was carrying 13 containers with hazardous cargo and 12 of calcium carbide.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
There was no derailment of MEMU train: Southern Railway
With reference to the article published in The Hindu, titled 'Katpadi - bound MEMU train derails near Arakkonam on Saturday dated June 28, the Southern Railways claimed, on Saturday, that there was no derailment. The release from the Southern Railway said: 'There was no derailment of the Katpadi-bound MEMU train. The Loco Pilot of Train No. 66057 promptly detected a rail fracture at Chitteri station Yard Road 1 loop line—an identified maintenance caution location with a speed restriction of 20 kmph. Acting swiftly, the Loco Pilot stopped the train at 21.15 hrs, preventing any untoward incident. The track was restored within an hour, and the same train was cleared safely on the same line. All train services in the section are running normally.'
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Why did Morning Midas cargo ship carrying 3,000 new vehicles to Mexico sink in Alaska weeks after catching fire?
A cargo ship transporting new vehicles to Mexico sank in the North Pacific Ocean weeks after its crew abandoned it, unable to put out a fire that had left the vessel stranded. The Morning Midas sank Monday in international water off Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain, the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said in a statement. "There is no visible pollution," said Petty Officer Cameron Snell, an Alaska-based US Coast Guard spokesperson. "Right now we also have vessels on scene to respond to any pollution." Why did the cargo ship sink? Fire damage compounded by bad weather and water seepage caused the carrier to sink in waters about 16,404 feet (5,000 metres) deep and about 415 miles (770 kilometres) from land, the official statement said. The ship was loaded with about 3,000 new vehicles intended for a major Pacific port in Mexico. It was not immediately clear if any of the cars were removed before it sank, and Zodiac Maritime did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday. Live Events A salvage crew arrived days after the fire disabled the vehicle. Pollution concerns mount Two salvage tugs containing pollution control equipment will remain on scene to monitor for any signs of pollution or debris, the company said. The crew members of those two ships were not injured when the Morning Midas sank. Zodiac Maritime said it is also sending another specialised pollution response vessel to the location as an added precaution. The Coast Guard said it received a distress alert June 3 about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, which then was roughly 300 miles (490 kilometres) southwest of Adak Island. There were 22 crew members onboard the Morning Midas. All evacuated to a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby merchant marine vessel. There were no injuries. Among the cars were about 70 fully electric and about 680 hybrid vehicles. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship's stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles, the Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime said at the time. Adak is about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometres) west of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. The 600-foot (183-metre) Morning Midas was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The car and truck carrier left Yantai, China, on May 26 en route to Mexico, according to the industry site A Dutch safety board in a recent report called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire aboard a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. One person was killed and others injured in the fire, which burned out of control for a week. That ship was eventually towed to a Netherlands port for salvage. (with AP inputs)
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Ethiraj College for Women in Chennai offers admission to transgender student, tuition fee waived.
Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai on Sunday offered admission to a transgender student, P. Shivin, who will be pursuing a course in Commerce. In a first among colleges for women to take the initiative, the admission was formalised after the college authorities handed over a letter to the student on Wednesday, the institution said. Talking to The Hindu, Shivin expressed happiness on being offered admission to a course of her choice. 'If opportunity presents itself, I will want to continue to study further,' she said. She added that within days of submitting the application, she got a call from the college authorities. 'She approached us on her own. Normally, this community does not receive an encouraging treatment from our society. I wanted to ensure that due respect was given to the person,' said V.M. Muralidharan, Chairman, Ethiraj College for Women. The Chairman spoke with the student and learnt about her transition from her assigned gender (male) to female during her school days and the trauma she had underwent. 'We are giving her a chance and we hope that this would encourage more persons from the community to seek higher education, Mr. Muralidharan maintained. The college has waived her tuition fee. Shivin had completed her Class 12 in 2022 at Bodinayakanoor in Theni district following which she left home and stayed with members of the transgender community in Coimbatore for a year. She then moved to Chennai and has been living with two other members of the community. 'I don't work. Here, my amma and aunty take care of me,' Shivin remarked, explaining that she was being supported by her adoptive mother from the community. 'My amma works in the IT sector,' she added. Mr. Muralidharan said that the faculty of the college too, were supportive and were willing to take up responsibility to ensure that she was successful. Shivin added that she has been associated with Sahodaran, a community-based organisation that supports transgender and LGBTQIA+ individuals. She has also been part of Thozhi, a non-profit working for the welfare of transgender persons.
