Indian Coast Guard is battling a massive fire aboard a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel, MV Wan Hai 503, which continues to blaze 30 hours after an onboard explosion triggered a major emergency off the coast of Kerala.
The 269-metre container ship, en route from Colombo to Mumbai, caught fire around 9.30am on Monday after a suspected explosion in one of its containers. The cause of the blast remains unknown. The ship is now tilting between 10 and 15 degrees and remains at risk of sinking.
Eighteen crew members, some with injuries, have been rescued and brought ashore following a dramatic operation involving both the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. The crew had abandoned ship and were rescued from a lifeboat. Four sailors — two Taiwanese, one Indonesian and one Myanmar national — are still missing. A team from Singapore has arrived to assist in search and rescue operations.
Multiple explosions have continued to rock the vessel, particularly from the midships to the container bay near the accommodation block, according to official Coast Guard updates. Five Indian Coast Guard vessels remain deployed, supported by an environmental monitoring ship, though the full extent of any ecological damage is not yet known.
The Wan Hai 503, managed by Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd, left Colombo on June 7 and was expected to dock in Mumbai on June 10. Kerala Ports Minister VN Vasavan said around 50 containers have fallen into the sea, raising the risk of pollution along Kerala’s coastline. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued an alert warning of possible oil spills and floating debris drifting ashore in the coming days. The ship was reportedly carrying about 100 tonnes of bunker oil.
This is the second serious maritime accident in the Arabian Sea off Kerala in less than a month. On May 25, the Liberian-flagged MSC ELSA 3 sank in the same region while transporting over 600 containers, including 13 with hazardous materials. That incident triggered an environmental emergency, with the Kerala government banning fishing in a 20-nautical mile radius and launching cleanup operations. As of June 9, 51 of the 61 containers that had washed ashore had been removed. The Directorate General of Shipping confirmed none contained hazardous substances.
An underwater mission is underway to cap the sunken ship’s oil tanks and recover its fuel. Officials say these back-to-back maritime accidents pose a growing threat to Kerala’s biodiverse coastline and its economically vital fishing and tourism sectors.
