Kochi, 9 June

A fire was reported on board a Singapore-flagged container ship off the coast of Kerala on Monday, and the crew was being rescued, a Defence PRO said.

Of the 22 crew members on board the ship, MV Wan Hai 503, 18 have abandoned the vessel and are being rescued by Indian Navy and Coast Guard assets, he said.

"Vessel is presently on fire and adrift," he said.

Defence sources said the Indian Coast Guard ships Sachet, Arnvesh, Samudra Prahari, Abhinav, Rajdoot, and C-144 were involved in the ongoing rescue operation.

Officials had earlier said an explosion was reported from the ship, MV Wan Hai 503, but later clarified it was a fire.

The underdeck fire was first intimated at around 10.30 am by the Maritime Operations Centre in Mumbai to their counterparts in Kochi.

The 270-metre-long vessel was en route to Mumbai.

"On 09 June 25, at about 1030 h, MOC (Koc) received an information from MOC (Mbi) about a reported underdeck fire onboard MV Wan Hai 503. The vessel is a Singapore Flag Container ship, 270 m long and draught 12.5m with LPC Colombo. The vessel departed Colombo on 07 June 25 with NPC Mumbai, 10 June," the communication from the PRO read.

He said that in response, the Indian Navy diverted INS Surat, which had been scheduled to dock in Kochi, to provide immediate assistance.

The Western Naval Command redirected the vessel at 11 am, the PRO added.

A Navy Dornier aircraft sortie is also being planned from the naval air station INS Garuda in Kochi to assess the situation and coordinate support.