Ship catches fire off Lakshadweep, 4 missing

Mumbai, March 7 

An Indian sailor was among four seamen missing after a large container ship, owned by Maersk Line, caught 

fire in the Arabian Sea off the Lakshadweep coast, officials said today.

The Singapore-flagged Maersk Honam, a 330-metre-long vessel, caught fire during a voyage from Singapore to Suez at around 1520 hours GMT (2050 hours IST) yesterday, forcing the 27 crew members to jump out into the sea, they said.

The vessel was around 340 nautical miles away from the Agatti Island in Lakshadweep, and four merchant ships in the vicinity were asked to help, the officials said, adding that 23 of the crew members have been rescued.

“When they (merchant ships) reached, they found that this vessel was completely on fire, ranging up to almost 25 metres high,” Inspector General KR Nautiyal, the commander of the Coast Guard West region, told reporters here.

An Indian Coast Guard (ICG) vessel having the capacity to take care of such a fire has been dispatched, he said. Search operations for the missing crew members are on with the help of the merchant ships.

The Indian Navy has pressed into service a long-range maritime patrol aircaft Boeing P-8I with search and rescue gear from Tamil Nadu to look for the missing crew, a Navy spokesperson said.

The missing Indian crew member has been identified as Sakim Hegde, one of the cooks on board, a senior official from the Directorate General of Shipping said.

Among the 27 crew members were 13 Indians, including the captain, nine Filipinos, two Thai 

sailors, and one each from the UK, Romania and South Africa. — PTI