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A fire broke out aboard the Singapore-flagged container ship MV Wan Hai 503 approximately 78 nautical miles off the coast of Beypore, Kerala, on Monday, June 9. The vessel, en route from Colombo to Mumbai, was carrying around 650 containers when multiple explosions triggered the blaze, causing roughly 20 containers to fall into the Arabian Sea.
According to multiple reports, the ship was located about 70 nautical miles west of Beypore and 40 nautical miles west of Ezhimala in Kannur at the time of the incident. The vessel, measuring approximately 270 metres in length, had departed Colombo on June 7 and was expected to reach Mumbai by June 10.
The crew on board numbered around 40. Of these, 18 jumped into the sea to escape the fire and are currently in rescue boats. Rescue operations are being carried out by the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, with coordinated efforts launched soon after the Maritime Operations Centre in Mumbai alerted its counterpart in Kochi around 10:30 am.
The Indian Navy swiftly diverted the indigenously built destroyer INS Surat to the site and initiated an aerial reconnaissance sortie from INS Garuda. Additionally, Coast Guard assets—including Dornier aircraft and interceptor boats from Kochi and Beypore—have been deployed to aid firefighting and rescue efforts.
Helicopters and Dornier aircraft are already engaged in the mission, with additional teams dispatched from Beypore. A Coast Guard source told OnManorama that rescue boats from Beypore were expected to reach the vessel by 4 pm.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the District Collectors of Ernakulam and Kozhikode to prepare for emergency medical care in case the rescued crew members are brought ashore in the state.