Massive fire breaks out on Maersk container ship, reportedly carrying IMDG cargo

KARWAR : A major fire broke out on a container cargo merchant vessel – MV Maersk Frankfurt – near the Karwar region of Karnataka on Friday afternoon. According to a Shipping Ministry officer, one person died in the fire which is still raging. The deceased has been identified as a sea man from Philippines. The vessel had 21 crew members on board, including Filipino, Montenegrin, and Ukrainian nationals, and was in passage from Mundra Port to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Coast Guard officers said that the fire reportedly started due to a short circuit and spread. They were alerted only when the crew could not douse the fire.

The ship, which was commissioned in 2024, was reported to be carrying International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) cargo, and explosions could be heard in the front part. The Indian Navy, which has a base at Karwar near Goa, have asked their ships to be on standby.

Initially, the ship’s crew attempted to extinguish the fire on their own but could not control it. The fire spread rapidly on deck, causing containers to burst. As per initial reports, 20 of 160 containers on the ship are on fire. The cargo ship is about 80 nautical miles from Indian Coast, said a shipping ministry officer.

Deputy Inspector General Manoj Bhatia of Coast Guard, Goa, said that they have sent three ships with fire-fighting equipment to the spot. He also said that they have asked their Kochi base to send a helicopter for evacuation.

The Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) of the Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command and the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) were also informed of the situation. The Indian Navy coordinated with the Coast Guard to assess if additional assistance was required. Considering the weather conditions and the threat to lives and the marine environment, the vessel’s owners were instructed by MRCC to arrange for a tug to arrest the drift and tow the vessel if necessary.

The Indian Coast Guard diverted one of its vessels to the area and later dispatched two additional ships to augment firefighting efforts. A Dornier aircraft was also dispatched and so was an Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) from Mumbai Port to assist. Till the filing of this report, firefighting operations are going on in full swing. However, as per ICG, the containers on deck are still exploding.