Maersk Frankfurt fire – Indian Coast Guard’s efforts continue for fourth day

GOA : Indian Coast Guard’s efforts to fight the blaze on cargo ship Maersk Frankfurt began on Friday evening, and are still going on for the fourth day. At the time of writing of this report, the blaze has been suppressed and brought under control by the helicopters and ships of the Coast Guard, but there are instances of re-ignition that have been posing challenges to the operation.

The ship had been sailing along India’s western seaboard, from Mundra, Gujarat, to Colombo, Sri Lanka, when it reported a fire at 5 pm, Friday, 19th July, thereby prompting a rapid response by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). At present, the ship is off New Mangalore, Karnataka, and at a safe distance from the coastal city.

As part of the firefighting efforts, the Indian Coast Guard has deployed five vessels – Samrat, Sujeet, Sachet, Varaha and Samudra Prahari, and their on-board helicopters, to fight the blaze that has been spreading to different parts of the cargo vessel that is ferrying International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG). According to the Indian Coast Guard, their persistent efforts have supressed the blaze.

However, the molten metal of the containers, and the chemicals they are carrying are prone to re-igniting. A four-member salvage team, including chemical experts, has boarded the merchant vessel to assess the situation and suggest a further course of action.

While the Indian Coast Guard assets continue to closely monitor the cargo ship that is seeing intermittent re-ignition of flames, there is also a danger posed by the 1,400 metric tonnes of diesel it is carrying. So far, ICG assets have been dousing the flames with water cannons and specialised firefighting chemicals such as Aqueous Film Forming Form (AFFF), Dry Chemical Powder(DCP). 

The efforts of the ICG ships are being assisted by an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH Mk3) that is dropping packets of Dry Chemical Powder (DCP), a specialised firefighting chemical. Further, a Dornier short-range Maritime patrol plane is monitoring the situation, keeping a close watch for any signs of an oil spill from the flaming cargo vessel. 

MV Maersk Frankfurt is manned by 21 crew members, comprising 17 Filipinos, two Ukrainians, one Russian and one member from Montenegro. One Filipino crew member is reported dead. As it stands, the cause of fire remains unknown.