VASCO: Days after the fire erupted on a merchant ship MV Maersk Frankfurt off the Karnataka coast, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Tuesday successfully doused the fire. The fire erupted on the night of Friday (July 19) and continued for days.

"The vessel is presently 13 nautical miles west of New Mangalore and heading towards open sea," the ICG stated in a release.

Due to sustained efforts by ICG ships as first responders, major fire has been doused and white smoke is visible with recurrent minor fires due to content inside containers. “Presently, ICGS Samudra Prahari, a specialised Pollution Control Vessel, and ICGS Sachet, an advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (OSV) are combating these small fires. Their efforts are augmented by Albattros-5, an OSV charted by the ship managers and Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) Water Lily, on contract with DG Shipping,” the ICG stated.

“Air efforts to undertake aerial assessment are being undertaken on need basis. Considering the grave threat posed to Indian coastline, all endeavours are being made to maintain the vessel away and well clear from the coast into deeper seas. The vessel is presently 13 Nautical miles west of New Mangalore and heading towards open sea,” the release stated.

The ship managers, M/s Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (Hong Kong) Ltd have contracted M/s SMIT Salvers to undertake salvage operations onboard the distressed vessel. ICG facilitated embarkation of an initial team, comprising four members, one Indian and three Filipino.

The salvers have requested ICG presence near distressed vessel to combat fire re-flash till arrival two Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) from abroad, under their contract. The first vessel is expected to arrive by the evening of July 23 and subsequently the second vessel by July 28.

(With Inputs From Agencies)