Container ship with 13 Indians on board catches fire near Lakshadweep, Indian Coast Guard rushes aid

A container ship with 13 Indians on board caught fire off the coast of Lakshadweep on Tuesday; rescue operations underway (Source: Twitter/@IndiaCoastGuard)

Firefighting is underway at a Singapore flagged container vessel, which caught fire at sea near Agatti Island in Lakshwadeep Islands on Tuesday night. Of the 27 crew on-board, 13 are Indians. The Indian Coastguard (ICG), which rushed to aid the passengers, has rescued 23 members so far. Efforts to rescue the remaining four are on.

According to the ICG, at 9.45 pm on Tuesday, its Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Mumbai received a distress message from a Singapore flagged 330 metre long container ship Maersk Honam.

“The ship had left Singapore on March 1 and was having passage to Suez. The ship has 27 crew of which 13 are Indians including the Captain of the Ship. Remaining crew reported are Philipino, British, Romanian and Thai,” the ICG said.

There was reportedly an explosion and fire onboard the ship, which requested immediate assistance. “The ship was at a distance of 570 km (340 nautical miles) from Agatti in Lakshwadeep Islands. The MRCC immediately alerted all the merchant ships near to the location, through the satellite based communication network, the International Safety Net (ISN),” the press release of ICG read.

@IndiaCoastGuard swiftly responded to major fire onboard MV Maersk Honam about 650 NM from Kochi on 06 Mar. MRCC Mumbai coordinated immediate rescue of 23 out of 27 crew through merchant vessels in area. ICG ship Shoor diverted for further assistance. @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/JyXJDhr3Gb

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) March 7, 2018

“Simultaneously, Indian Coast Guard ship Shoor patrolling near Lakshadweep Islands has been diverted for assisting the distressed vessel. Further, the Coast Guard plans to press in their Dornier D 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Agatti Island for search and rescue,” the release added.

Around 11.25 pm, Merchant Ship MV Als Cicero, among four other merchant vessels directed by ICG to provide assistance, reached Maersk Honam and reported that the vessel was on fire. “The merchant vessel reported that Maersk Honam was on fire with flames from the main deck of the ship rising upto the ships bridge (height of about 25 metres). The crew has abandoned the ship as fire spread beyond control. Mearsk Honam had 27 crew onboard, out of which 23 has been rescued by Als Cicero. Remaining four are missing,” added the ICG.

IG KR Nautiyal, the Coast Guard Commander (West) said, “Search Operations are on and Coast Guard assets have been pressed into action, It is our priority to save and rescue the four missing crew and also continue our efforts to salvage the vessel with assistance of specialized vessels which is being arranged in co-ordination with the Ship agency”.

At present, a search operation is in progress by merchant vessels Als Cicero, Seaspan Zambezi, Navigator Centauri and Al Jasrah. The search is being coordinated by Indian Coast Guard Regional HQ (West) and MRCC Mumbai.

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