Vessel fire case: Chinese Embassy expresses gratitude to Navy, Coast Guard for prompt response

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) The Chinese Embassy in India has expressed gratitude to the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard for the "prompt and professional rescue" operation following a blaze on board a cargo vessel off the Kerala coast.

Of the 22 crew members of Singapore-flagged MV Wan Hai 503 that caught fire following a container explosion on Monday, 18 were rescued by the Navy, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and other agencies.

The crew members include eight Chinese, six Taiwanese, five Myanmarese, and three Indonesian nationals, the ICG had said in a statement on June 9.

Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Yu Jing, in a post on X on Tuesday, mentioned the incident and expressed gratitude to the Navy and the ICG.

"Our gratitude goes to the Indian Navy @indiannavy and the Mumbai Coast Guard for their prompt and professional rescue. We wish further search operations successful and the injured crew members speedy recovery," she wrote.

The incident occurred at approximately 9.20 am IST, around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal in Kannur district of Kerala and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi.

The vessel was en route from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Nhava Sheva, Mumbai, with an expected time of arrival (ETA) on June 10, 2025.

"#IndianNavy in a closely coordinated #SearchAndRescue operation with @IndiaCoastGuard, DG Shipping and other stakeholders, has safely rescued 18 out of 22 crew members Singaporean Flagged MV Wan Hai 503. The MV had reported internal container explosion and resultant major fire onboard," the Navy had posted on X Monday night.

The fire on board the Singapore-flagged container vessel has been largely contained, though it is still not fully under control, defence sources said on Wednesday.

The ship is currently stable but has a slight tilt of around 10 to 15 degrees to the port side. There has been rainfall in the area, they said. PTI KND RHL