India's Coast Guard is fighting a fire on a container ship that threatens to be about 15 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala as searches are still searching for four missing crew members.
According to Indian Coast Guard Commander Amit Uniyal (Amit Uniyal), the image shows rising flames and towering diesel smoke from Singapore-signed MV Wan Hai 503, which tilted “10 to 15 degrees” in the water.
24 hours after the Indian Coast Guard responded to the distress call, an explosion was still being heard on Tuesday. Uniyal said the crew of the ship reported the fire caused by the explosion at around 9:30 a.m. local time, although it is not clear what caused the explosion.
According to Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority, 18 sailors were rescued from the affected ship. Four crew members remain missing.
According to the Port Authority, MV Wan Hai 503 is managed by Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) PTE Ltd, which said it will investigate the incident. CNN has contacted the company for comment.
The 269-meter (890-foot) ship left Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 7 and is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai, India on Monday.
Uniyal told CNN on Tuesday that the Coast Guard “dos best” to control the fire, but the situation worsened. “I can’t tell you if the ship will sink,” Uniyal said. “More containers are on fire.”
Official social media accounts said five Indian Coast Guard ships put out the fire on Tuesday, reporting that “explosions range from the medium term to the container bay in front of the accommodation area.”
Images released by the Indian Coast Guard show flames, black smoke and burnt containers. Environmental observation ships are monitoring their efforts, but the scope of impact is unclear.
The Indian Coast Guard is still extinguishing the fire 24 hours after the crew reported an explosion on board. – Indian Coast Guard/AP
The incident was the second serious transport incident in less than a month after Liberian champion Elsa 3 sinking on May 25.
The Carrera government said the ship had more than 600 containers on board, including 13 containers containing “dangerous goods”, the government launched an environmental emergency and instructed fishermen not to work in the area.
The Director-General of India's Transportation said that from June 9, none of the 61 containers washed from MSC ELSA 3 were removed from the shoreline.
An underwater operation has been initiated to limit the tank of the sunken ship and ultimately save its fuel, the office wrote in a statement.
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