Chances high for Singapore-flagged ship that caught fire off Kerala coast to sink along with dangerous cargo

The Indian Coast Guard ships carry out the firefighting operation after a fire broke out on a Singapore-flagged ship following a container explosion off the Kerala coast, on June 10, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI

Even as the Coast Guard has been continuing efforts to douse a fire on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship MV Wan Hai 503 in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Kerala, the chances for salvaging the ship are a highly arduous task considering the current prevailing situation of the ship.

According to K. Mohandas, a former Shipping Secretary, the main challenge involved in salvaging the ship and the dangerous cargo onboard was the report of the ship listing around 10-15 degrees on one side.

Second, the fire has not been brought under control a day after the accident due to the challenging weather conditions. The prevailing monsoonal conditions over the Arabian Sea are helpful for spreading and difficult to contain the fire inside the ship.  Normally in such a situation, the ship will break up and sink into the sea.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior Union Shipping Ministry source said it is not necessary that all the listed ships would sink along with the cargo. In this case, the firefighting team involved in the exercise could not bring the fire under control until now. We can say anything about the future of the ship and the dangerous cargo onboard the ship only after dousing the fire. However, we are hopeful that the fire could be contained,” he said. As per the cargo manifest released by the Kerala government, 157 containers carry highly dangerous goods. 

“Unlike Liberian container ship MSC ELSA 3 carrying more than 640 containers, which initially started tilting on one side, and later sank off the coast of Kochi with hazardous cargo due to the stability issues, we assume that the fire broke out in the latest incident from the inflammable cargo kept onboard the vessel. Only after a detailed investigation could we say more in detail with evidence,” he said.

Though both the shipwreck incidents seem to be identical in the gap of a fortnight, the two incidents are totally different and independent. “We cannot draw a parallel between both incidents, including the reason for the fire in the latest ship and the capsize of the former ship,” said Mr. Mohandas. All the cases are different, and a case-to-case approach has to be adopted.

“In this case, the ship is a Singapore-flagged vessel where the inspections and scrutiny of the vessel are more rigorous than other country-flagged vessels, like vessels registered in Liberia, which is a flag of convenience. The common factor is that anything that spills onto the Arabian Sea from a sinking ship off the coast of Kerala during the period from June to September would invariably and undoubtedly reach the shore of the State due to the effect of the wave transportation triggered by the monsoon, said Mr. Mohandas.

Published - June 10, 2025 02:29 pm IST