In a significant achievement, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Indian Navy have successfully facilitated the towing of the burning Singapore-flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503, pushing it away from the Indian coastline and averting a potential environmental catastrophe.
The vessel, engulfed in flames since earlier this week, was stranded approximately 42 nautical miles off the coast of Beypore, Kerala. It was carrying over 1.2 lakh metric tonnes of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous materials, posing a severe risk to the marine ecosystem and shipping lanes.
In a post on X, the ICG stated, “Major milestone in the ongoing operation to suppress the fire onboard MV Wan Hai 503 and protect the marine environment! Indian Coast Guard ships enabled the tow connection of the salvage vessel in an extremely challenging and daunting operation.”
The operation involved high-risk coordination between ICG vessels and naval air assets. A helicopter from the Indian Navy’s Southern Naval Command winched down salvage crew members onto the burning ship, allowing them to transfer tow lines from ICG ships to specialised salvage tugs.
With the tow successfully established, the vessel is now being pulled further away from the Indian coast, significantly reducing the risk of an oil spill or explosion. Firefighting efforts by the ICG continue onboard to contain the remaining blaze.
This success reflects the effectiveness of the ICG’s boundary cooling and containment strategy despite hostile sea and weather conditions.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy held a high-level synergy meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. The meeting, co-chaired by the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) and the Deputy Director General (Aviation) of ICG, focused on enhancing joint operations, flight safety, and maritime aviation capability through improved interoperability and training programs.
The MV Wan Hai 503 incident underscores the critical importance of such coordinated efforts and reinforces India’s preparedness to handle complex maritime emergencies.
