Container vessel catches fire off West Bengal coast; ICG ships and aircraft deployed

A container vessel X-Press Godavari ship has caught fire and Indian Coast Guard ships and aircraft have been deployed for the firefighting operation on September 28. Indian Coast Guard ship Amogh and Dornier aircraft have commenced firefighting operations as ICGS Amrit Kaur and Varad are proceeding to the area for further assistance.

"A container is smouldering on vessel Express Godavari," Kolkata Port Chairman Vinit Kumar said.

The 155-metre long vessel carrying 506 containers and 15 crew members including four Indians caught fire as it anchored at the Sandheads off the West Bengal coast. Officials said that a container is smouldering on vessel X-Press Godavari and Coast Guard has been moved for immediate assistance. The Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal, nearly 130 km from Haldia, is a stretch of open sea where vessels anchor before being allowed to dock at the port.

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Rescue mission off Gujarat coast

On September 27, Coast Guard rescued 12 crew members of a cargo vessel sinking in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast. The Coast Guard received information of flooding onboard the vessel MSV Krishna Sudama around 10 nautical miles off the Okha coast. The vessel had started sailing from Mundra in Gujarat for Djibouti, carrying rice and sugar to the African nation. 

"Search and rescue was immediately commenced wherein Coast Guard Ship C-411 sailed from Okha, C-161 was diverted from off Mundra, and MV Southern Robin in the vicinity of the area was diverted to render assistance," the Coast Guard said in a statement.

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(Image: Twitter / @IndiaCoastGuard)