Firefighting ops continue as crew rescued from burning vessel off Kerala coast

Kochi: The Indian Navy ship INS Surat disembarked the 18-member crew of the Singapore-flagged container vessel, which caught fire on June 9, as coordinated firefighting operations continued through the night following the maritime incident off Kerala’s coast, officials said.

The crew were disembarked at Mangalore Port at 11.30 pm on Monday.

Indian Coast Guard ships Sachet and Samudra Prahari remained engaged in firefighting efforts overnight, a Defence spokesperson said.

A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft took off on Tuesday morning to conduct an aerial survey of the incident site, the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard vessel Samarth is set to sail out, carrying a salvage master to the location of the incident.