Imagine being on a ship that is pitching up and down; in nausea inducing rough seas in adverse weather conditions. Now, imagine a massive fire on your ship, which by the way is carrying explosives and is sailing nearly 100 km away from shore. This nightmarish situation became a reality for the crew of MV Maersk
Frankfurt. The fire engulfed ship’s crew appealed for life-saving help yesterday and the Indian Coast Guard delivered.
Upon hearing the distress call from the MV Maersk Frankfurt, the Coast Guard dispatched a Dornier-228 aircraft for aerial assessment, and a vessel at maximum speed to douse the towering inferno on the merchant vessel. The merchant ship had sailed from Mundra in Gujarat and was on its way to Colombo in Sri Lanka when the fire erupted. The vessel is known to be carrying International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) cargo, and explosions have been reported in the forward section of the ship. The massive flames were raging close to this section when the first Coast Guard ship arrived.
Three Coast Guard ships Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat have been relentlessly battling the flames since yesterday. The rescuers have assured the crew of the stricken vessel of their safety that they will be rescued. The maritime agency has also dispatched Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv and other aircraft to help in Search And Rescue (SAR) operations. Aircraft have been dispatched from both Goa and Kochi to assist in the operations. Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) Water Lily, has also been requisitioned for the rescue operations and left Mumbai late last night and is expected to arrive at the site on Sunday.
On Tuesday night the Coast Guard had rescued eleven crew of a fishing vessel that were trapped on a fishing vessel that was taking water and experienced an engine failure south of the area where the current operations are taking place.
