Massive Fire Breaks Out on Maersk Container Ship Off Indian Coast, Leaving 1 Dead

Image Credits: Indian Coast Guard Post on X.

A massive fire broke out on the container ship MV Maersk Frankfurt, 100 nm from Goa and 50 nm from Karwar, a city on India’s west coast and the Arabian Sea.

The incident happened on Friday afternoon and one sailor, a Philippine national, has been reported dead, while the fire is still raging. The container vessel had 21 crew comprising Filipino, Ukrainian and Montenegrin nationals.

It was going from India’s Mundra Port to the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka with International Maritime Dangerous Goods cargo.

@IndiaCoastGuard MRCC #Mumbai received distress call on 19 Jul 24 from container carrier MV Maersk Frankfurt 50 NM off #Karwar regarding major #fire onboard. #ICG #Dornier & Ships Sachet, Sujeet and Samrat pressed into action. #ALH and additional aircraft being mobilized to… pic.twitter.com/b6JKlY2f75

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) July 19, 2024

Per reports, the fire began in the forward section of the vessel due to a short circuit and then spread to the deck causing containers to burst. Around 20 of the 160 containers onboard are on fire.

The Coast Guard was alerted only when the crew members failed to extinguish it.

The Indian Coast Guard received reports of the ongoing fire at midday on July 19 and sent an aircraft and then three Coast Guard vessels, Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat to the site. Later, an Emergency Towing Vessel was also dispatched from Mumbai Port to assist.

The 76,500 DWT Maersk Frankfurt is a relatively new ship delivered to its Japanese owners in May. Bernard Shulte manages it and it is under a charter to Maersk. It is 255 m long and has a 5920 TEU capacity.

Media reports indicate that there are rough weather conditions in the region along with heavy rains.

The Maritime Operations Centre of the Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command and the Information Fusion Centre of the Indian Ocean Region were also made aware of the situation.

Given the rough weather and threat to lives, the vessel owners have been told to arrange a tug to control the drift and tow the ship if needed.

Till now, firefighting operations are still ongoing, and containers are still exploding.

References: Indian Shipping News, World Cargo News

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