.A massive explosion beneath decks on the Wan Hai 503 has seen a reported 18 crew, out of a total of 22, abandon ship as the vessel continues to burn off the coast of Kerala, India.
Four crew have been reported missing from the Singapore-registered vessel in the latest news from Singapore’s Maritime And Port Authority. Eighteen crew are in the process of being transferred from liferafts to coast guard vessels.
The 20-year-old vessel was en route to Nhava Sheva in Mumbai from the Sri Lankan port of Colombo when cargo deep in a forward hold exploded at around 10:30am on Monday. The cause of the blast is unknown. However, a maritime expert suspects dangerous goods, declared or undeclared, could have been stored below decks.
According to India’s Ministry of Defence it is thought that 20 containers have been lost at sea.
An Indian navy destroyer and coast guard vessels have been despatched to rescue crew and to assess the situation, a Dornier aircraft is also flying over the seen of the accident, some 78 nautical miles off Beypore, Kerala.
Images published by the Indian Coast Guard from an aircraft show plumes of thick smoke billowing from the vessel, with two life rafts visible in the sea.
MPA said it was in close contact with the vessel’s management company and will be investigating the incident.
