Barge with Cochin Shipyard marking washes up at Karnataka beach, probe on

A mysterious barge drifted ashore at Jali Beach in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, raising curiosity and concern among local residents. The barge, bearing markings of Cochin Shipyard, was first spotted by locals.

Initial reports indicate that the vessel might have broken free from a commercial ship after its mooring rope snapped. The exact circumstances leading to the incident remain unclear, but officials suspect it could have been set adrift during transit or rough weather.

Alerted by the villagers, the Indian Coast Guard arrived at the scene and launched an investigation. Authorities were working to trace the origin and recent movement of the barge to understand how it ended up along the beach in Bhatkal taluk.

This comes after the neighbouring state of Kerala saw two major maritime mishaps involving cargo ships in a span of only two weeks.

A hulking vessel carrying 643 containers, Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3, succumbed to a suspected mechanical failure and sank 14.6 nautical miles off the Thottappally coast on May 25. On May 29, the Kerala government declared the wreckage of the ship a state-specific disaster, given its potential environmental, social and economic implications.

On June 9, a floating warehouse of 650 containers, the Singapore-registered MV Wan Hai 503, erupted in flames and explosions further north, 43 nautical miles off the Azhikkal coast. The ship, bound from Colombo to Mumbai, had 22 crew members.