NEW DELHI: The tow of the distressed container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 was successfully transferred to the ocean-going tug Offshore Warrior on Friday, stabilising what could have spiralled into a major maritime disaster.
The firefighting and salvage operation of the Singapore-flagged vessel is being jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.
Despite adverse weather that restricted aerial operations and delayed the salvage team’s boarding, a Navy Sea King helicopter launched from Kochi on 13 June heroically winched team members onto the vessel under extremely challenging conditions.
The salvage team then managed to connect a 600-metre tow rope to Offshore Warrior approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi. The vessel is now being towed westward at a speed of 1.8 knots and is nearly 35 nautical miles offshore.
Three ICG Offshore Patrol Vessels continue to escort the container ship and sustain firefighting operations. At present, only thick smoke and a few isolated hotspots remain onboard, a testament to the ICG’s effective firefighting efforts that have helped avert a major environmental disaster.
The ICG is closely coordinating with the Directorate General of Shipping to ensure the vessel remains at least 50 nautical miles from the Indian coastline until its fate is determined by the owners, in accordance with international norms. The situation is expected to further stabilise with the anticipated arrival of additional firefighting tugs.
The Indian Navy reinforced the rescue efforts by carrying out the insertion and extraction of the salvage team on Friday. In a prompt response, the salvage team members were embarked onboard a Sea King helicopter at INS Garuda, Kochi.
The naval helicopter successfully inserted the team on the vessel amidst challenging weather and sea conditions and fire onboard.
The Indian Navy on Saturday said, “The salvage team was winched down, who connected up tow with the salvage Tug Offshore Warrior. After connection of the tow, the salvage team was successfully extracted by the naval helicopter from the vessel. The towing operations of the vessel has commenced.”
Presently, the Indian Navy's INS Sharda and Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) MV Triton Liberty are actively engaged in the salvage operations, in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard and other maritime agencies, the Navy added.
The ICG had been holding the vessel away from the Kerala coast for several days, but sudden deterioration in weather conditions and strong westerly winds caused it to dangerously drift toward the shoreline.
“This shift was essential to progress the operation, as ICG vessels have limited bollard pull, a term denoting the towing capacity of a ship. For the past few days, ICG ships had been maintaining the vessel’s position away from the coast. However, sudden deterioration in weather conditions, accompanied by strong westerly winds, caused the vessel to drift rapidly towards the shoreline.”
The adverse weather restricted aerial operations and delayed the embarkation of salvage team members onto the vessel. Despite these challenges, around 1700 hrs on 13 June, a Navy Sea King helicopter successfully launched from Kochi with the salvage team and winched them onboard the distressed vessel under extremely difficult conditions.
Subsequently, a 600-metre tow rope was connected to the ocean-going tug approximately 20 nautical miles off Kochi. This crucial joint operation involving the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force enabled the salvors to take over the vessel from the ICG and continue the firefighting and salvage work. The vessel is currently being towed westward at a speed of approximately 1.8 knots and is now nearly 35 nautical miles off the coast.
At the time of this report, only thick smoke and a few remaining hotspots are visible onboard Wan Hai 503 – a testament to the effective and sustained firefighting operations carried out by the ICG, which helped prevent a potential environmental disaster.
The incident took place on Monday, 9 June
A major fire broke out onboard the Singapore-flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 following a container explosion. The incident occurred at approximately 0920 hrs IST on 9 June 2025, around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal, Kerala and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi.
The fire rapidly engulfed the midsection of the vessel, which is currently adrift. Preliminary reports suggest that 10–15 containers have fallen overboard.
The vessel was en route from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Nhava Sheva, Mumbai, with an expected time of arrival (ETA) on 10 June 2025. Carrying 2,128 metric tonnes of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous cargo, the vessel poses a significant threat to the marine environment and nearby shipping routes.
The vessel had 22 crew members onboard, including 8 Chinese, 6 Taiwanese, 5 Myanmarese, and 3 Indonesian nationals. Following the explosion and escalation of the fire, the crew abandoned the ship.