The container ship WAN HAI 503 continues to burn and the whereabouts of the missing crew members remain unknown since the accident on June 9.
The Indian Navy stated on social media that on June 13, through a “daring operation”, three rescuers were lowered to the stern of the “WAN HAI 503” by helicopter slings.
After the rescuers boarded the ship, they successfully connected the towline of the accident ship to the salvage tugboat “Offshore Warrior”. At that time, the fire in the cargo holds and containers in most parts of the hull had been raging for several days, but the stern area had not been affected.
After the towline was secured, three rescuers were evacuated by helicopter. Subsequently, the WAN HAI 503 began towing, but the specific destination was not disclosed.
The towing operation was carried out by Indian Navy ships INS Sharda and OSV Triton Liberty in collaboration with the Indian Coast Guard.
The container ship caught fire and exploded at around 12:30 p.m. Singapore time on June 9, approximately 80 kilometers southwest of Agikal in Kerala, India. The cause of the fire was an explosion in one of the containers on board, which then spread to most of the container ship.
After the explosion and fire, 18 of the 22 crew members on board were rescued, of whom 6 were injured, 2 were seriously injured, with burns covering 35% to 40% of their bodies. Another 4 crew members (one from China’s Taiwan region, two from Indonesia, and one from Myanmar) were missing and their whereabouts are still unknown.
According to reports, the WAN HAI 503 was built and delivered by CSBC Corporation, Taiwan in 2005. It has a total length of 268.8 meters, a beam of 32.3 meters, a cruising speed of approximately 14 knots, and a maximum container capacity of 4,252 TEU.
The WAN HAI 503 is currently managed by a Singapore-based subsidiary of Taiwanese shipping company Wan Hai Lines and operates a joint venture with Evergreen Marine and German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd on the China South-India route.
The ship departed from Colombo on June 7 and was scheduled to arrive in Mumbai on June 10. At the time of the incident, it was reported to be carrying approximately 650 containers, including flammable liquids and solids, self-igniting substances, and toxic substances, among other hazardous materials.
In early June, the WAN HAI 503 underwent its final port state inspection in Mumbai, which identified some minor issues with the loading and unloading equipment and issued a workplace safety warning, but the ship was not detained.