Burning merchant vessel towed away from Kerala coast in high-risk operation

In a daring maritime operation, the Indian Navy successfully attached a tow rope to merchant vessel ‘Wan Hai 503’, which has been burning off the Kerala coast since June 9.

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The rope connects the drifting ship to the ocean-going tug ‘Offshore Warrior’.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Coast Guard had been holding the vessel away from the Kerala coast for several days, but sudden deterioration in weather conditions and strong westerly winds caused it to dangerously drift toward the shoreline.

The merchant vessel ‘Wan Hai 503’ was just 38 km off Kochi in Kerala when the team managed to connect a 600-metre tow rope to Offshore Warrior. The Wan Hai 503 is now being towed westward, away from the coast and is now nearly 65 km offshore, the MoD said on Saturday.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), along with the Navy and Air Force, have successfully transferred the tow of the distressed ship, the MoD said. Despite adverse weather that restricted aerial operations and delayed salvage crew boarding, a Navy Sea King helicopter launched from Kochi on June 13 successfully winched salvage team members onto the vessel under extremely challenging conditions.

Three ICG Offshore Patrol Vessels are continuing to escort the container ship and sustain firefighting operations. At present, only thick smoke and a few isolated hotspots remain onboard, a testament to the ICG’s effective firefighting efforts that have helped avert a major environmental disaster, the MoD said.

The ICG is closely coordinating with the Directorate General of Shipping to ensure the vessel remains at least 50 nautical miles from the Indian coastline until its fate is determined by the owners, in accordance with international norms.

The situation is expected to further stabilise with the anticipated arrival of additional firefighting tugs, the MoD said.