Multiple explosions and fires broke out aboard a Singapore-flagged cargo ship en route to Mumbai on Monday, forcing several crew members to leap into the Arabian Sea and causing 40 containers to fall overboard, officials confirmed.
The vessel, WAN HAI 503, encountered the emergency approximately 144 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Kerala, according to Shekhar Kuriakose, Secretary of the state’s Disaster Management Authority.
“Preliminary reports indicate that there were 22 crew members on board. Eighteen of them jumped into the sea and are currently aboard rescue boats. Efforts are ongoing to bring them to safety,” Kuriakose said, noting that while the situation remains critical, the ship is not currently sinking.
Dramatic images and footage released by the Indian Coast Guard on X (formerly Twitter) showed dense black smoke billowing from the ship, with several containers visibly damaged and scattered near the source of the blaze.
“The vessel is currently on fire and adrift,” stated a public relations officer from the Ministry of Defence on X.
Authorities have yet to disclose the type of cargo the ship was carrying or the cause of the explosions.
This incident comes just weeks after another container vessel sank off the coast of Kerala, spilling around 100 containers into the Arabian Sea. However, the Directorate General of Shipping reported on Friday that no oil pollution was detected in that earlier event.
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