Days after the fire erupted on a merchant ship MV Maersk Frankfurt off the Karnataka coast, the Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday successfully doused the fire. The fire erupted on the night of Friday (July 19) and continued for days. "The vessel is presently 13 nautical miles west of New Mangalore and heading towards open sea," the ICG stated in a release.
Providing details about the fire, the ICG on Sunday said that MV Maersk Frankfurt was carrying 1,154 containers, including some with dangerous cargo like benzene and sodium cyanate. It had caught fire some 102 nautical miles off the coast of Goa while en route from Mundra in Gujarat to Colombo in Sri Lanka. The ICG had also stated that one crew member died in the blaze.
The ICG has also said that it has facilitated the embarkation of an initial team, comprising four members- one Indian and three Filipino. "Due to sustained efforts by ICG ships as first responders, the major fire has been doused and white smoke is visible with recurrent minor fires due to the content inside containers," the ICG release added. According to the ICG release, ICGS Samudra Prahari, a specialised pollution control vessel, and ICGS Sachet, an advanced offshore patrol vessel are combating small fires on the ship.
Notably, on late night Friday, the Coast Guard control room in Mumbai received a distress call from a container carrier MV Maersk Frankfurt 50 NM off Karwar. The call informed about a major fire onboard. ICG Dornier and ships Sachet, Sujeet and Samrat were immediately dispatched for action. Besides, an additional aircraft was also mobilized to augment the search and rescue efforts.
The timely intervention prevented the spread of fire and on the forepart, it was suppressed. However, the smoke was present and the forepart was reignited due to extreme weather. Meanwhile, ICG Pollution Control Vessel Samudra Prahari was also deployed. Making massive efforts, ICG Dornier aircraft from Goa was deployed to conduct aerial assessments, with an additional aircraft from Kochi positioned for Search And Rescue. ETV Water Lily was also deployed.
(With PTI Inputs)
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